Shining Embers Of Destiny
by Pokibal2001
Summary: "I wish... I wish I could see my nakama again." When Natsu is given a second chance to travel back in time, he will do whatever it takes to protect everyone and stop Zeref from plunging the world into darkness once more. But Fate is a relentless force and Natsu's journey to rewrite the future won't be easy, not with Destiny against him at every corner. On temporary hiatus.
1. Chapter 1

**Fairy Tail: Shining Embers Of Destiny**

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. **Ever**.

A/N: See below. Beware of slight spoilers from the manga.

Re-edited on 8/7/2016: I added an extra scene and corrected several words.

 _Chapter 1: The Nostalgic Fairy Tail, Part 1_

* * *

 **"Are you truly prepared for the consequences?"**

 **"Yes."**

 **"There's no turning back."**

 **"I know. I've made my wish."**

 **"I see then... May you have the best of luck."**

 **"Thanks. I'm going to need a lot of it."**

* * *

"He…Nat…re…ou….kay!?""

The salmon-haired boy could only groan as his eyes are slowly opened up.

 _'Why is the sky so blue?'_

The dragon slayer slowly rose up from the ground and made eye contact with a familiar blue exceed who is watching him with a worried expression.

The fire mage's only reaction was to jump back in shock.

"Woah, Natsu! What's with you?'' Happy shouted in shock, surprised at his best friend's reaction.

Said boy stared back at the flying cat in disbelieve, breathing heavily as he did so before looking around in wonder. From what Natsu could see, both he and Happy seemed to be at some short of alley. Happy continued to stare at Natsu worriedly when he notices the awed expression on his face, wondering if the dragonslayer's motion sickness must have affected him more than usual.

Soon, Natsu stared back at Happy again with a strange expression the blue cat could not identify. Happy just managed to bring Natsu back to Hargeon's train station after the fire mage got stuck in the train twice thanks to his motion sickness. However, as soon as they entered one of the town's alleyways, Natsu immediately collapsed on the pavement and Happy panicked. Unfortunately, there were no people around so Happy couldn't call for help.

After a few moments of silence, Natsu spoked,"…Happy?''

"Natsu,'' said blue cat replied slowly, ''Are you okay?''

Natsu opened his mouth before closing it, instead choosing to shake his head and gave Happy the widest grin the exceed has ever seen. Happy has never seen his foster father this happy ever since… Lissana's death. And wait, are those tears?

''Happy, can I hug you?'' Natsu asked suddenly.

"Huh?'' was Happy's only intelligent reply.

As soon as Happy said that, the blue cat got caught in a bear hug so strong it could rival Erza's hugs.

''Gah! Natsu….can't…. breathe!''

''Opps, sorry Happy!''

As soon as Natsu let go of Happy, the exceed immediately gasped for air before watching his salmon-haired friend wearily. Happy realised something was wrong with Natsu because he knew that Natsu is not the touchy-feely type of guy, much less asking for a hug out of nowhere. Even now, Natsu is smiling at him while wiping away some bits of stray tears and it's starting to creep him out.

' _Wait a minute, since when did Natsu have green eyes? I thought his eyes were black!_ ' Happy thought to himself.

"Hey, Happy. What date is it today?'' Natsu asked again.

"Huh?'' is, once again, Happy's only reply as the blue cat is utterly mystified by his friend's question

As if fate answered his question, a random newspaper flown over their heads and Natsu immediately grabbed it and read the date on it.

 ** _2 July, X784_**

It's the day he first met Lucy Heartfillia, his precious nakama and best friend, other than Happy, who sacrificed so much for him during… the war with Zeref.

''….Natsu?''

Said boy looked up to his companion's face and could see Happy's expression of concern that is underlined with a tinge of fear. Natsu sighed before giving a slightly somber, albeit still happy expression (pardon the pun) on his face. He knew that his actions are probably confusing his best friend.

''Sorry about that, Happy. I….''

What is Natsu supposed to say? That he came from a future where humanity almost went extinct and all of their beloved nakama, Happy himself, have been murdered by Zeref and his army of demons? That he just saw his best friend died in his hands after being struck down by Zeref's magic and yet said cat is still alive because of time travel? That he's actually the younger brother of Zeref Dragneel and the infamous E.N.D?

''…I think I ate too much food.''

Happy gave him the most brilliant deadpan expression that Natsu has ever seen and the fire dragonslayer could not help but laugh boisterously at the poor cat. Oh thank Mavis that the war have not tarnished his sense of humour. It's pretty obvious from the get-go that Happy clearly did not believe in such a far-fetched lie that even Natsu himself thinks it's not possible at all, considering his endless appetite for food. If he could remember clearly, he and Happy are supposed to be very hungry by now.

Before anymore could be said, multiple excited female voices are heard.

''I can't believe he's here!''

''He's so dreamy!''

''Isn't the Salamander so handsome!''

Oh great, he forgot. In his excitement over the successful trip back in time, Natsu has entirely forgotten the reason why he and Happy are Hargeon in the first place. He has to face that faker, Bora the Prominence in order to meet Lucy again and he knew enough about time travel that he has to follow the timeline or else his knowledge of the future would be made redundant.

The problem is whether or not he could control himself from attacking the man whom he honestly taught was Igneel. Sudden memories of his foster father's death came in and he pushed them away just as quickly. He has no time for grief since it's time to reunite with the girl with golden hair and warm, brown eyes. Even if she's not the same as his Lucy, all he cares about is that she's alive and happy and he would be damned if he loses her again. Not after her sacrifice to protect him….

"C'mon, Happy! Let's go see the Salamander!''

''Oi, wait up!''

* * *

Once Natsu and Happy arrive at the town square, there were many fangirls gathering around Bora and from the corner of his emerald eyes, he could see Lucy in the crowd with hearts in her brown eyes.

Natsu could feel his breath get caught in his throat. It's been so long since he last saw her, her body no longer marred by scars of war and still as innocent as ever.

However, that feeling of elation is soon replaced by rage the moment he set his eyes on Bora. How dare this man mock his guild-no, his family and prance around cursing girls with his charm magic while acting like a member of Fairy Tail. The fact that he even got Lucy stuck under that spell made his blood boil, almost literally.

Happy could feel the temperature around him rising and immediately realised that Natsu is extremely pissed off and somehow the 'Salamander' in front of them is responsible for his anger.

''Natsu…'' Happy asked wearily. Something definitely changed in Natsu when he collapsed just then and Happy has to be careful.

''Happy, that is not Igneel,'' Natsu replied, his jaw clenched, ''That **faker** was pretending to be 'Salamander'. But since he's enjoying his 'time', let's humour him.''

Happy has never seen Natsu this livid before. Sure, there are times where Natsu get angry in his constant brawls with Gray but he has never seen the fire mage seething with fierce hatred in his sharp green eyes nor has he seen speak so calmly in such an emotional state. Honestly, it scares him.

''Hey, Salamander! Long-time no see!'' Natsu called out to Bora.

Suddenly, all attention goes to him and Natsu could see the hearts in Lucy's eyes shattered apart, finally free of the charm spell. Natsu could not help but smirk as he saw her awed expression turned into realisation when she just found out she fell victim to the charm spell.

''Hmm. Do I know you?'' Bora asked, confusion etched in his face.

''Have you really forgot about me? We're friends, remember?'' Natsu replied, getting closer to Bora until he gave him a side-hug, albeit a very painful one.

Natsu leaned closer to Bora's ears and hissed, "Leave this place now or I will tell your real name to those girls, Bora of Prominence.''

Natsu immediately let go of Bora, feeling satisfied when he saw the fearful expression on Bora's face. He could feel Lucy staring at him suspiciously, as though she knew what he just said to Bora.

''O-oh, ye-ah! Lo-ong time no see! Um I think I need to go now, let's meet up again tonight! I got a tight schedule and all.'' Bora stuttered before giving a nervous laugh.

'Oi! Give me your autograph first!'' Natsu demanded, not willing to lose one of his future treasured possessions in the new timeline no matter ridiculous it seems.

After making a quick signature on paper, Bora than left in a dramatic fashion by using his purple flames to fly away, leaving behind many heartbroken fangirls wailing in his wake.

Natsu let out a satisfied smirk after stuffing the autograph in his bag. Usually, he would just straight out attack Bora right here and then. However, he does not fancy getting attack by a pack of rabid fangirls and probably does not earn him points in Lucy's first impression of him. Nevertheless, it feels nice to take a peg down on arrogant jerks.

''Well, I guess it's not him after all.'' Happy lamented.

''Definitely not him at all.'' Natsu replied somberly and crossed his arms, once again pushing away memories of Igneel's death from his mind.

''Hey…''

Natsu immediately tensed and turned behind to see his future nakama walking towards him with a grateful expression on her face.

"Thanks for your help. He was a real creep.'' Lucy said with clear gratitude in her voice.

Natsu could feel his breath get caught in his throat when he heard her beautiful voice after so long. With the haunting image of Lucy's dead body after her sacrifice accompanying his mind, Natsu is so grateful that her brown eyes no longer held that same dead look the last time he saw her.

''Uh...Hello?'' Lucy asked, uncertain.

Oh crap, he stared at her too long.

"O-oh, uh…Sorry? An-nd uh…Yo-you're welcome?'' Natsu stuttered with an internal grimace.

Lucy just shook her head, amused at the boy's behaviour. It's pretty obvious that he was admiring her feminine wiles and she was used to such looks of admiration, especially after surviving dates with those so-called 'men' her father set her up with in the past. At least this cute boy with his strangely coloured hair, weird-looking scarf and forest green eyes seemed apologetic.

'… _Wait a minute, did I just called him cute_?'

Happy, for the first time in his entire life, watched flabbergasted when he saw Natsu, the true Salamander and most destructive fire dragon slayer in history, stuttered in front of a girl they never met before. Everything happened so fast it seems almost surreal and Happy could count a number of things that Natsu did things that are out of character.

For one, Natsu just won a fight against the false Salamander without actually fighting at all and with subtlety too! And with how angry Natsu was just then, to say that Happy was surprised is an understatement when not a single fight erupted at all during their encounter with that faker.

Not to mention that Natsu's eyes also changed colours. How could onyx black eyes changed into vivid green in a few seconds? That does not make sense!

Happy gave an internal sigh. Once everything is over, he definitely going to ask Natsu what his problem is… and he's not accepting stupid excuses. For now, he'll tolerate this new side of his best friend.

"Hey, I owe you guys lunch. It's the least I could do for you two after helping me out.'' Lucy offered with a smile on her face.

Natsu's and Happy's stomachs growled at the same time and said duo gave each other a look before giving Lucy sheepish grins.

''Sure, why not!'' Natsu replied excitedly.

'"Aye, sir!'' Happy exclaimed just as gleefully.

* * *

' _There goes all my money…'_

Lucy watched in exasperation as Natsu wolfed down his food with utter savagery while Happy happily nibbled his fish, causing food to fly everywhere. Has this boy ever learnt table manners?

Natsu has not eaten this much food since… ever. Wow, Zeref really made him feel like 400 years old. He ordered way more food than he supposed to, even by his standards. He can't help it though. Weeks of senseless fighting against Zeref's army have made him missed food so much that he willingly ate those rubbish others called 'rations' just to appease his hunger and even then he's always never full.

Still, he can't help but feel slightly guilty for making Lucy buying all of their orders. For all he knows, he could've made her bankrupt.

''…if I could actually convince them to let me in, I think I could just about to die!'' Lucy exclaimed in her fangirl mode.

Oh crud. He's brooding too much just like ice princess that he absolutely did not notice her talking at all. What kind of nakama is he to just ignore his best friend!? Especially after everything she done for him, both original and new timelines included. After slurping the last few of his ramen, the words suddenly blurted out of his mouth.

"Why don't you join Fairy Tail?''

That one sentence caused Lucy to stop her chatter mouth and Happy gave Natsu a hidden look of appreciation. In the blue cat's opinion, Lucy talk too much.

''Huh?'' came Lucy's stupefied reply.

"I mean, you're a weirdo. I'm sure you fit in right with them.''

'"What did you just called me?!'' Lucy shouted in outrage, threatening to hit him.

''Weirdo,'' Natsu repeated, smirking as he did so, "And I mean it in a good way. The guys from Fairy Tail has always been, uh what was that word? Oh! Eccentric! I'm sure they love to be friends with you, myself included.''

Lucy gave a huff of irritation, still not amused by Natsu's choice of word in describing her. Inwardly though, she actually felt touched that Natsu considers her a friend. If anything, Natsu could possibly be her first friend she made ever since she ran away, other than Happy of course. Nevertheless, she set herself forward to answer Natsu's question.

"Sure, why not? To be honest, Fairy Tail is actually my favourite guild out of all of them. I guess one of the main reasons why I like them so much because they're selfless heroes. One of them actually saved me when I was a child.''

Natsu eyebrows went up. Why does that sound so…Oh, right! The 'Memory Days' incident. His Lucy did mention that she saved her past self during that time although she did not specify how exactly. Speaking of that book, he will definitely make sure to avoid it. The war has too much unpleasant memories and he does not want he and his friends to go through such an ordeal.

But if that was the case, then how exactly is he going to imitate the 'Memory Days' incident again? He knows he has to follow the timeline without changing too much until a certain date and his memories of the future might as well be considered the past. Wow, time travelling is so confusing.

"What happened exactly?'' Natsu questioned, honest curiosity in his tone. He never asked what Lucy's experience was like in the past. Mainly because he's too glad that he and the others managed to return to their timeline safe and sound. Maybe the Lucy from the past might know what happened.

Lucy's face blushed, much to Natsu's surprise.

"Well actually… I tried to ride a carriage with horses alone once without anyone else to help and uh…well… It didn't go so well.''

Happy, who has been silently observing Natsu's and Lucy's conversation, decides to comment, "Wow, that's really stupid of you.''

Lucy than proceeded to slap the exceed on his head, resulting in a yelp from the blue cat.

"Shut up, you stupid cat!" Lucy exclaimed angrily before she stutters out her argument, blushing as she did so, ''I was ju-just a kid back then, okay! I-I… wa-was ve-very curious…''

Natsu knew she was lying about her reasons but he chose not to press on it. This is something personal about Lucy that as of now, he has no right to know yet. Instead, he chose another question.

"Are you lonely?''

'"Huh?'' Lucy replied back in shock, confused once more.

Happy chuckled to himself. Out of everything that has happened, the one thing he liked about the changes (or whatever they are) is that Natsu seemed to have a new habit of shocking people with random questions and this won't the last time either.

''I'll say it again. Are you lonely? You seem to have this sad look in your eyes and you didn't talk much about friends.''

Lucy was speechless. Was she that obvious? No way. Years of neglect by her father and endless dates with those suitors taught her to cover her emotions well. And yet, Natsu, someone she just met (and be friends with), could see through her.

When she saw that Natsu is serious-' _that expression does not fit on his fa_ ce. _He needs to smile more often'_ \- she sigh and readied herself to admit the truth. Not that she's going to tell him everything! Just that she really is lonely. It has been an insecurity of hers ever since her mother's death. Sure, she has a good relationship with the servants back home but they're all older than her and she does not have friends who are the same age as her. Common sense told her that she shouldn't divulge any personal details about herself to people you barely know and yet… Natsu made her feel safe, like she could trust him with her secrets.

"Yeah, you could say that,'' Lucy answered truthfully, her brown eyes downcast, ''I… don't really have a lot of friends. I've always been lonely since I was young.''

Natsu frowned for a moment before grinning brightly, leading Lucy to blink several times at the sudden mood lash. ' _Wow, his canines are really sharp'_.

''That's it! Lucy, follow me outside! I got something to show you. You too, Happy!''

Confused at the sudden turn of events, she put down all of her savings _-'Natsu brought so much food, damn it!'-_ and decides to follow the pink-haired boy and his flying blue cat out of the restaurant. She does not why at all but her gut feeling is telling her that whatever Natsu is about show her, she completely trusts him.

* * *

The trio of dragon slayer, celestial mage and blue exceed are standing in front of a fairly decent sized boulder in a plain field somewhere outside Hargeon. Lucy has no idea how she managed to walk this far away from town and she is now getting very impatient.

''So….Are you going show me something or what?'' Lucy retorted, crossing her arms.

"Of course,'' Natsu replied with an infuriating smirk on his face, "Lucy, catch!''

Lucy could only blinked before having the Natsu's maroon jacket thrown to her face.

''He-hey! What the he-!'' Lucy spluttered before being struck speechless once again. Happy laughed at her flabbergasted expression.

It's not because of his lean, yet muscular body covered under his black sleeveless vest nor how handsome his face looked under the light of the shining sun with those emerald green eyes and salmon-coloured hair. No, those are not the reasons why Lucy is shocked speechless. The actual reason why was the fact that he has a mark on his lower right shoulder and it's not just any random mark.

It's the mark of Fairy Tail.

That, and the temperature seems to be rising a lot.

"Huh?!'' came Lucy's only response. Wow, Natsu has been giving her lots of shock lately.

Natsu ignores her, instead completely focused his attention on the boulder in front of them. Natsu knew that in the body of his younger self, he's not as strong as he used to be in the future but he can worry about that later. Once he, Lucy and Happy are back in Magnolia and finished certain events that are supposed to happen in the original timeline, he can train as much as possible afterwards to reach that level of power again.

Natsu started to inhale, gathering fire in his mouth. Once he gathered enough, he let go a blazing torrent of flames at the large boulder, causing it to explode upon impact.

 **"Fire Dragon's Roar!''**

Happy watched amusingly at Lucy closing and opening her mouth repeatedly until realisation filled her face, her brown eyes completely wide. If his foster father is planning to impress their blonde friend, he sure as hell did a very good job.

Lucy pointed her finger in disbelief at Natsu, unable to believe that she saw Natsu breath fire and decimated a large rock with almost no effort at all.

"You're…You're… You're a member of Fairy Tail?!" Lucy exclaimed, struggling to accept the fact that Natsu is indeed, a member of the Fairy Tail. His mark proves it.

"Hey! Don't forget about me!" cried out Happy.

Natsu watched in satisfaction at the half melted bits of the once large bolder. At the very least, he's not too underpowered by time.

Another bout of realisation hit Lucy. The unusual pink hair and the scaly looking scarf, the ability to create and manipulate fire in ways that nobody else can.

' _Oh my gosh, he's the real Salamander!'_

The boy and cat duo watched in amusement at Lucy in which said blonde mage was spluttering incorrigible words over her recently discovered revelation. Natsu was slightly surprised though at Lucy's reaction. She wasn't this shock the first time she found out when he was giving Bora a curb-stomp battle in the original timeline. Maybe that time has something to do with how dangerous the situation has become and that might've distracted Lucy enough from the shock. This time though, there is nothing else for Lucy to focus on.

"That's…. I never seen magic like that before.'' Lucy admitted lamely, now that most of the shock has left her body.

"That's called dragon slayer magic!'' Happy happily explained.

Natsu is more than glad to let Happy explain the basic aspects of dragon slayer magic to Lucy. However, Lucy brought up something that surprised both him and Happy.

"Why would a dragon teach a human dragon slayer magic!? That's like trying to give someone the power to slaughter your own species! And how did you actually convince a dragon to teach you such magic?'' Lucy exclaimed incredulously.

Natsu frowned. Of course he knew the real reason behind Igneel's lessons of teaching him dragon slayer magic and he'd be more than willing to kill his beloved father's murderer, Acnologia with or without the 400 year plan. Lucy does not know that however, so it's easy to forgive her. Nevertheless, it's not easy to control the bitter tone in his words when the image of Igneel's partially destroyed body filled his mind.

"It was Igneel who taught me." Natsu answered, his voice low and unamused.

"Huh? Igneel?'' Lucy asked, surprised from how angry he sounded.

"Yeah, Igneel. He's the dragon who not just taught me magic but also raised me like a father since I was young. Why would I want to slaughter my own father?'' Natsu could not help but growl after speaking the last sentence, resulting in Lucy to flinch and Happy stared at him in shock.

Lucy stared down at her shoes, unable to look at Natsu's cold green eyes. Her hands clenched around the rims of her blue skirt as she bit her lips, wondering what she would say to break the tension.

No matter how ridiculous Natsu's claim of his upbringing, Lucy knew that she just offended her new found friend by bringing up such implications of the use of dragon slayer magic and she felt extremely guilty for that. She was just pointing out the information that does not make sense to her but she didn't know that he would react so strongly to her question if his offended scowl on his face and him crossing his arms is indication enough.

Nevertheless, she still felt guilty for offending Natsu even if it was unintentional. She doesn't want her first friend to be angry at her.

' _I already have my father to hate me enough as it is…'_ Lucy thought gloomily to herself.

Happy watched nervously back and forth between Natsu's glaring at Lucy and said girl's guilt-stricken face. Even though the blue exceed never met the fire dragon, he knew just how much Natsu loved his father with the way his best friend talk about him with clear admiration in his voice. Happy would say in the same tone too whenever he praised his own foster father. As matter of fact, Igneel is the main reason why he and Natsu are in Hargeon in the first place.

Happy knew that Natsu would never hurt Lucy. In fact, he would never hurt an innocent person. However, that does not mean that Natsu won't act antagonistic to someone he doesn't like yet he could not fight due to obvious reasons. Happy is very fond of Lucy and her 'weird' behaviour even though he and Natsu only met her an hour ago. He does not want Natsu's recent friendship with Lucy to crumble over a misunderstanding.

Natsu knew he shouldn't be angry at Lucy at all. The present Lucy didn't know after all. Igneel's death hit him pretty hard but now that he's alive and inside his body (he still can't believe that his father has been inside him the entire time until the war with Tartarus), the thought excites him but he'll dwell on that later. Now, he has to focus on the present.

Natsu gave a sigh before giving a wistful smile at Lucy, making said blonde to blink at the unexpected action while Happy tilted his head curiously at the change in Natsu's emotional behaviour.

"Sorry about that. You just hit a sore spot in me without knowing, that's all. No harm done.'' Natsu said. The grin on face, though slightly melancholic, is shining with forgiveness.

"Wha-what are talking about?! I'm the one who should sorry! I didn't mean to-''

But before Lucy could continue, her lips were covered by Natsu's calloused hand.

'"Sheesh, Luce. You're loud.'' Natsu jested with a smirk.

A tick of irritation appeared on Lucy's forehead. How dare that boy called her loud while she was trying to apologise him. And that name too! Why she oughta-

"Why you-!? I was apologising to you!'' She cried in outrage. Then she slap him on the head, "And the name's Lucy!"

Soon after that, she suddenly remembered the situation and becomes horrified of her actions.

"Wah! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to-''

"For the last time Luce, it's okay. If it makes you feel better, I forgive you.'' Natsu said while looking away in the other direction, his cheeks blushed in the same colour as his hair since he's not used to saying such words.

Lucy gave a slight huff of irritation at Natsu's nickname for her before closing her eyes and sigh in relief. Natsu was so quick to forgive her and she never felt so glad that her friend is no longer angry at her.

"Lucy!?'' she could hear Natsu's surprised gasp and suddenly she could feel something wet on her cheeks.

' _Am I crying?!'_

Lucy quickly wiped away the traitorous tears out of her face, embarrassed that Natsu and Happy got to see in her such a state. When since did she get so emotional anyway? She survived growing up without friends and she certainly did not let her loneliness affect her too obviously. So why was she crying?

Natsu and Happy are the first friends she ever made and she doesn't want to lose them.

Wow, she just met them more than an hour ago and she considers them her close friends. She must be much lonelier than she cared to admit. Even her celestial spirits could not completely fill the hole in her heart that is called friendship.

Natsu than stepped closer to Lucy and used his used his hand to wipe away her tears, much to her shock.

"Don't be sad. I don't hate you. You're actually nice even if you're weird, you know that?'' Natsu complimented her, his cheeks slightly pink.

Lucy could not help but smile shyly at Natsu's words, blushing as she stared back at his emerald green eyes. It's been so long since someone cared that much for her, not since her mother's death. Even if Natsu chose a very bold way of comforting her, he still cared for her and she felt so happy.

Natsu thought back to his Lucy from the original timeline and the sacrifice she has made for him….

* * *

" _Please… Stop Zeref….''_

" _No! Lucy, please don't-!''_

" _I've… always… believe… in you… ever since… we first met… Natsu…''_

" _Lu-Lucy, I... I...!''_

" _I….I...lo-''_

'' _ **LUCYYYYYYYYYYYY!''**_

* * *

Natsu would rather be damned than to lose Lucy and everyone else to death again. Fairy Tail is his nakama and Lucy is no exception, even if she not technically a member of Fairy Tail yet as of now. Seeing future Lucy during the GMG murdered by future Rouge is bad enough, but seeing his Lucy from the original timeline sacrifice herself for him?

He's not going to let present Lucy die. He will protect her and all of his nakama. He's going to change the future for the better and see that his family **will** live through peaceful times. And seeing that beautiful smile on her face is totally worth it.

It is unfortunate that Happy would be the one break the tension with the most embarrassing method: teasing.

"Wow, you two are totally in love!'' Happy exclaimed.

Those few words are enough to break the spell that was holding on both dragon slayer and celestial mage. As a result, Happy laughed at the priceless expressions on his friends' faces whose only reactions were to splutter incorrigible words.

If one was witnessing this scene, he/she would say that he/she saw two angry people in their late teens swearing at a flying blue cat who was laughing his face off.

After a certain while, Natsu looked at Lucy again after the latter had caught Happy and covered his mouth.

"Hey, Lucy. Enough about the drama. I got something to tell you.''

''Eh? What you mean?'' Lucy asked, though she definitely agreed on the drama part. Things has escalated way too emotionally for both sides.

"I'm offering you the chance to join Fairy Tail.'' Natsu answered, still smiling as ever.

Lucy gasped for a moment before squealing as loud as possible like the excited fangirl she is. Is she really going to join Fairy Tail? Oh imagine all the adventures she's going to have and all the money she's going to earn on quests.

"Yes! Definitely yes!'' Lucy exclaimed happily.

"Too bad, Luce," Natsu smirked, "You have to go through a test first."

"EHHHHHHHH!'' Lucy screamed at the top of her lungs, making Natsu and Happy to cover their ears.

Test?! What test?! She doesn't remember any of the Weekly Sorcerer magazines saying anything about a test when it comes to applying for membership in Fairy Tail.

Even Happy is curious too. Why would Natsu set up a test of all things for Lucy? He's always eager to accept new friends who are willing to join their nakama.

After Lucy has calm down, she anxiously waited for Natsu to reply. The fire mage took a deep breath and his face grew serious, much to the anticipation of Lucy and Happy.

"Lucy, your test is to take down Bora of Prominence.''

This cause Lucy to raise her eyebrows. Who the heck is Bora? Happy, who had finally caught on to Natsu plan, help his best friend explain to Lucy who Bora really is.

"So you're saying that creep is not only impersonating you as a member of the Fairy Tail guild but he also has been kidnapping girls with his charm magic as well!?'' She retorted in disgust, anger filling up her shaking body as she clenched her hands into fists.

She knew that Bora was already suspicious enough with the way he uses illegal charm magic but to think that he'd actually go as far as to take advantage of the girls' forced infatuation with him and kidnap them? She never knew someone so…so… _despicable_.

Natsu watched wistfully at Lucy. It's sad to think that once she joined Fairy Tail, she's going to encounter people way more worse than Bora.

"Well, we don't know exactly if he's actually kidnapping girls but Natsu and I can tell you this, Lucy. That guy is totally not trustworthy." Happy warned Lucy.

"I see….'' replied Lucy.

After a few moments of silence, Natsu spoked out.

"Hey, me and Happy are going to help you in this test."

"Huh, really?'' Lucy was surprised once again.

"We are?'' asked Happy, confused.

"Yep!'' Natsu smiled brightly, "There's no way we're leaving you to fight Bora alone. Even if you're not member of Fairy Tail yet, you are our new nakama and we will always be on your side. That's what Fairy Tail's for. We're family who looks out for one another.''

''Natsu…''

Lucy is incredibly touched by Natsu's words. He doesn't consider her as a friend. He considers her as a nakama, his family. The thought of family nearly brought on the waterworks but she pushed away the sadness. No, she will be happy and she not fail this test! She will join Fairy Tail and with Natsu's and Happy's help, that dream isn't too far away.

"Alright, but first,'' She pointed back at the port of town of Hageon, "Let's get back to Hargeon. I don't fancy talking our plans this far from town.''

Natsu look around at the plain fields around them and agreed with Lucy's idea. Even though Hargeon is relatively safe place, the countryside can be infested with monsters and it would probably get more dangerous at night.

Natsu grunted his agreement before a sudden jolt of realisation hits him and stared at Happy in horror.

"Natsu, what's wrong?'' Happy asked in concern.

"We forgot to thank Lucy for buying us lunch!"

''EHH!''

By the time Lucy realised what was going on, a pink-haired dragon slayer and his talking blue cat are bowing down to her like a goddess while chanting their thanks in reverence. Needless to say, Lucy was not amused.

"CUT IT OUT! You're embarrassing me!'' Lucy screamed in what seems to be a mix of horror, revulsion and embarrassment even though there was no one else around to see them. Well…except maybe one.

* * *

A mysterious entity floats over to a veil that is currently depicting Natsu, Lucy and Happy walking the way back to Hargeon, all of them chatting animatedly.

The figure frowned, hoping that he would not regret his decision to help the fire dragon slayer. After all, Natsu Dragneel has already changed the course of time the moment he chose to act on his own instead of acting like he was supposed to do in the original timeline.

The wings of a butterfly may create a weak flap of wind but in a few days, a hurricane will form.

 _Let's hope you can truly change the future because your true enemy isn't Zeref. It's Destiny and it will always try to find a way to make you fail and accept your loss._

The entity smiled.

 _Let's see if you can face the consequences of your alteration of time, Etherious Natsu Dragneel…._

* * *

A/N: Whoa! I finally finished the first chapter after writing it for three days. Writing 5k plus words is totally a good achievement for me. This is actually my first time writing fanfiction and I won't mind any criticism of my work because I know it's not perfect. But please, no flames allowed. The future from where Natsu come from takes place somewhere in the Alvarez Empire arc but with a few changes that will later be explained as the story goes on.

I don't know if I make Natsu, Lucy and Happy too OOC or not so please review and let me read what are your opinions of my interpretations of them. And don't worry about Natsu being a Gary Stu. Even he doesn't know which direction the future will go and he'll always ends up struggling just like the others.

Due to my hectic schedule, I probably won't be able to update until next month so any readers who like this fic would have to wait for the next chapter for a very long time. See yah!


	2. Chapter 2

**Fairy Tail: Shining Embers Of Destiny**

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. **Ever**.

A/N: See below.

Re-edited on 13/5/2016: I changed some words in the previews so that the overall story makes more sense.

 _Chapter 2: The Nostalgic Fairy Tail, Part 2_

* * *

"So, you really think you can get me to Fairy Tail? No kidding?" Lucy asked 'eagerly'.

"I don't see why not? But you can't say anything about the charm spell." Bora replied, amusement clear in his tone.

"I won't say a word!'' Lucy declared with 'fervour'.

"Good! Then I see you at the party tonight." Bora said in satisfaction before flying away in the air on his purple flames.

"You got it, Mr Salamander Sir!'' Lucy cried out.

Once Bora is completely out of sight, Lucy finally let go of her 'fangirl' persona and grimaced in disgust. As part of the first phase of the main plan she devised with Natsu and Happy to take down the false Salamander, she has to meet up with Bora at Hargeon's local park and has to act nice to that sleaze bag in order to for her to be invited to Bora's party even though she clearly did not enjoy acting like a dumb blonde who is head over heels for that pervert.

Lucy is a very keen observer and immediately noticed the way Bora was checking over her body with lustful eyes while she was playing the role of a fangirl. She shuddered at the thought of a man like Bora thinking lewd stuff about her. Never had in her entire life did she met a man so disgusting that not even the suitors that her father set up her up with were that despicable.

With this observation in mind, Lucy becomes even more determined to not just pass the test but also to stop Bora. The problem she is facing now is getting very personal. Those girls don't deserved to be taken advantage of and she's so glad that Natsu decided this test for her.

She will not let her nakama down. She will pass this test, save those girls and defeat Bora once and for all.

"Hey, Lucy!"

Lucy turned around just in time to see Natsu jumping down from a tree while Happy remained flying in the air. During the entire time when she was having a 'conversation' with Bora, Natsu took it upon himself to hide in a tree with Happy while spying on them to make sure that nothing goes wrong.

"Oh hey, guys! I got the invitation!'' She exclaimed happily.

Natsu gave an amused smirk to her, though she began to notice that his green eyes are alight with anger for some reason.

"Yeah, good job Luce. You got it alright." Natsu scoffed, his tone barely neutral.

Lucy frowned. Did something happened to make Natsu very annoyed? She noticed the way Happy gave his best friend worried looks and wondered if she should asked Natsu about the cause of his anger.

"Natsu, is something wrong?''

Natsu blinked at the unexpected question while hearing Happy snickering beside him. A few seconds later, he finally realised that Lucy must've have noticed his anger. Damn, he really needed to control his emotions.

"Oh…I…uh…'' Natsu stuttered for a moment, resulting in Lucy to giggle a bit.

Even though she only met him for a few hours, she suspected that the true Salamander never stuttered that much before judging from the way Happy was looking at Natsu with amazement in his eyes. In all honesty, she thought it's quite adorable.

Natsu gave a tired sigh and frowned, crossing his arms, "It's the way that poser was looking at you, Lucy. I wish I could just punch him in the face right away.''

Lucy's brown eyes widen, her eyebrows high. So Natsu did noticed the way Bora was looking at her as well. She actually felt touched by his words if she wants to be honest. He was looking out for her and wouldn't hesitate to come to her behalf if she's in trouble. It's only because of their situation that he chose to restrain himself.

The thought of Natsu, the true Salamander, being protective of her made her feel warm.

Lucy gave the fire dragon slayer a reassuring smile, "Don't worry about me, Natsu. I may not be the strongest but I know how to handle myself."

Natsu wanted to argue against that statement but bit his tongue. He knows Lucy's not helpless. In fact, she's actually quite a competent fighter especially when fighting alongside her celestial spirits. Even her Edolas counterpart certainly proves the notion true. Still, he can't help it though. He has always been protective of Lucy and seeing her die twice…

For now, he'll try his best to control himself. Regardless of which world/timeline Lucy came from, she does not appreciate being underestimated and he understood that well.

The tension on Natsu's face has finally left as the fire mage gave a sigh and smirked.

"Alright Luigi, whatever you say.'"

Lucy could feel her angry tick coming to the surface.

' _Excuse me?!'_

"It's Lucy, you morons!" Said blonde cried out indignantly, becoming more incensed as the fire mage and his blue cat laughed obnoxiously at her expense.

* * *

"It's Lucy, right? That's a lovely name." Bora complimented on Lucy's namesake.

"Yeah, thanks…" Said blonde replied half-heartedly.

Lucy is currently having a toast with Bora in one of his special suites above his yacht at night. Lucy is wearing an elegant maroon dress which was one of the few clothes that she managed to salvage while running away from home.

There are times when she wished that she could've chose a better dress because she doesn't really like that shade of red. If she could move back in time, she would have definitely pick a pink dress instead which said colour is her favourite. The colour pink is one of few cherished things that Lucy shared in common with her late mother.

' _And it just so happens that my first friend has pink hair, go figure.'_

Shaking those thoughts out her heads, Lucy proceeded to have a casual conversation with Bora with simple topics like his favourite food and pastimes which Bora doesn't mind to share, much to the celestial mage's relief.

If she could keep up the conversation with the false Salamander long enough, she should be able to distract him for those few precious minutes needed to carry out the plan successfully.

The plan that Lucy has in mind is the remaining two phases of the main plan that she devised with Natsu and Happy to take down Bora of Prominence earlier that evening at Hargeon after receiving her party invitation. The second phase of the plan involves Lucy to distract Bora while Happy would be on the ship to find the kidnapped girls and getting them back to the harbour safely.

The third phase would then involve Happy to come back to rescue Lucy and bring her back to the port. Once there, she could then summon the celestial spirit Aquarius to unleash a tsunami on Bora's yacht from a safe place, bringing him and his crew back to Hargeon so that the authorities can deal with him.

Lucy sincerely hoped that Aquarius would be in a good mood tonight because with how crucial the third phase has become, she doesn't want to deal with the temperamental water spirit's stubborn attitude in such a situation.

As for Natsu, he would only participate in the last resort if the plan were to ever fail. If that happens, lots of fiery destruction might occur and nobody wants that. Even so, Lucy can't help but point out to the dragon slayer that she would be the one causing the most destruction if she has to summon Aquarius.

Not to mention the fact that the plan might attract the attention of a particular group of wizards…..

* * *

" _You do realise that we're going to get in trouble with the Magic Council, do you?!" Lucy cried out incredulously, imagining different scenarios in her head if the Army caught them carrying out the third phase of the plan._

 _Natsu rubbed his chin, deep in thought about the Magic Council's involvement in the plan. He honestly never took them as factor overall and now that he think about it…_

" _Well… There's always plan B, Lucy. We could just run away and hope we won't get caught." Natsu said with a shrug, not caring about the consequences._

 _Besides, he, Happy and Lucy managed to escape from the Army in the original timeline._

" _That's your brilliant plan?! Running away!?" Lucy exclaimed, flabbergasted at how nonchalant Natsu seems to be in regards to the potential situation of facing the Magic Council's wrath._

" _That right, Lucy! We have to run away from them or we might get in a more serious trouble!" Happy replied with a warning tone._

 _Lucy sighed. What has she gotten into? The test seems almost impossible…_

 _She was about to say something when she noticed that the sun is starting to set and Bora's yacht party might start in an hour. Oh well, this might be the only chance to join Fairy Tail. If she really wants to be a Fairy Tail wizard, she has to accept the risks._

" _Alright, fine. Let's hope for the best that the plan will work. I'm going back to my hotel room to change clothes for the party, okay?" Lucy told the duo in front of her._

 _Happy gave an 'aye!' while Natsu nodded with an affirmative grunt. But just as Lucy was about to turn around, Natsu hold onto her shoulder much to said blonde's surprise._

" _Hey, Lucy…"_

" _What is it, Natsu?" She asked curiously._

" _Be careful, okay?"_

 _The same warm feeling came back and Lucy could feel a blush coming to her face. Nevertheless, she smiled in appreciation at Natsu's concern for her._

" _Like I said before, Natsu. I'll be fine. I know the risks but I'm willing to take it." She replied in reassurance as her own hand held onto the dragon slayer's hand that is filled with soothing warmth._

* * *

"…ello? Are you listening to me?" Bora asked in irritation.

Lucy is then brought back to reality, blinking at Bora snapping his fingers in front of her face. Oh crud, she was way too deep in thought about the situation that she didn't listened to any of Bora's words at all. Granted, Bora mostly praise about himself without giving Lucy a moment to even speak during their 'conversation'.

Nevertheless, it's still pretty rude of Lucy to zone out while someone else was talking her. But then again, snapping fingers in front of someone's face is very rude as well.

"Oh, sorry about that! I'm just feeling distracted tonight…" Lucy replied sheepishly, scratching the back of her head.

"Oh, I see… Well, then. Do you like to have some refreshments?" he proposed, snapping his finger.

Droplets of non-alcoholic beverage (Lucy refused to accept wine) floated in air and started moving to the direction of where Lucy is seating

"Now, open up wide Lucy. Savour the taste of each flavour of drop as it enters your mouth."

' _ **CREEPY**!'_

If Bora was trying to impress her, he might as well be listed at the bottom of the list of the worst flirts ever! Even Natsu can do a much better job at making good impressions.

Brown eyes starts to widen. If that is one thing Lucy is good at, she's very adept at sensing magic. It just so happens that the floating droplets are laced with sleep magic. Bora is trying to make her sleep so that he could kidnap her easily. That jerk!

However, just before Lucy could react, the door slammed open. She and Bora turned their heads in surprise at the sudden intrusion which causes the droplets that was floating in front of Lucy to fall onto her maroon dress, much to her ire.

"Hey!" Lucy shouted in annoyance.

Bora is just as displeased at the turn of events and glared at the man, who is revealed to be one of his crew members of his ship.

"What is it, Doris! Can't you see I am entertaining her?!" He demanded in anger.

"Bor-Boss! We're caught a blue cat taking away all the women!" The man, Doris, exclaimed in horror.

"What!?" Bora shouted incredulously.

' _Wait, blue cat? Oh no, Happy!'_

How could Happy be so careless? Lucy was doing a very good job of distracting Bora and this is what she gets? She has to get to Happy quickly before Bora would do something terrible to him. If that would happen, Natsu will be extremely pissed off.

From what Lucy could infer from her interactions with Natsu is that the fire mage is extremely protective of his nakama, her included. If something bad happens to her and Happy, Natsu will be hell-bent on revenge. Dragon slayers are very powerful mages and even if Lucy doesn't know Natsu that long, she shuddered at the thought of witnessing his rage.

Not to mention that she is definitely going to fail the test now that Happy has been discovered. As Bora dashed out of the room frantically, Lucy ran after him with hope that Happy remained unhurt.

' _I'm sorry, Natsu. Please be okay, Happy…'_

* * *

When Happy first arrived on the first floor of the ship, there were a lot of women on board drinking merrily to their hearts content but not an even a single food in sight.

 _'If Natsu was here, he would say something about how can there be a party if there's no food at all. Haha, typical Natsu.'_ Happy chuckled fondly to himself.

Happy was quite ecstatic that he got to play an important role in the test and that if everything goes right, he and Natsu will get a new nakama in the family. Lucy is certainly a very fun person to hang out with in his opinion.

However, the blue exceed would be lying if he said he wasn't worried about his blonde friend facing their main enemy alone. He could understand his foster father's concern for Lucy. While she may be a Celestial mage (he is very curious about how she summons her spirits), he doesn't like it when that his new friend might get hurt during the test.

Soon enough, things started to get weird when the women started to fall asleep one by one. By the time all of them are asleep, thuggish men started to converge on them from inside the yacht/ship. Happy frowned at the situation. This has to be the work of magic, that's for sure.

This is going to make things a lot harder for Happy. The blue cat thought that the kidnapped girls were hidden somewhere on the ship but now, it seems like more women are being captured. Is there any way to find the girls and distract the kidnappers?

A sudden, imaginative light bulb appeared on Happy's head. Now he's knows what he's going to do. All he needs to find is a stack of barrels…

* * *

"Gah! What's with all the rolling barrels!?" One of the thuggish crew shouted incredulously.

Happy chuckled mischievously from behind the corner just as a barrel rolled over one of the crew men. There's a golden rule where all ships must have barrels of food and beverages. The blue exceed thanked his luck that at the most fortunate moment, it just so happens that Happy found a storage room full of barrels which is located at the second floor after Happy did some discreet exploration of the ship.

After making sure that none of the men found him, he entered an opened round window that would probably be too small for a grown man since the door was locked. Luckily, Happy is no human. The barrels were very heavy but the blue cat has no problem carrying them out of the room and dropping each one from the second floor, which led to barrels falling down and rolling all over the first floor.

Happy is quite proud of his strength at having carried all those barrels in the moment. He may be small but if he wasn't as strong as he is now, how is he capable of carrying Natsu most of the time when his best friend needed a lift?

Since all the men are distracted by the rolling barrels, Happy took a quick detour of the ship. The yacht/ship, whatever Happy wants to call it, is not even as big as a cruise ship but finding those kidnapped girls is much harder than the blue cat had anticipated.

' _Where are those girls…? Hah! Found them!'_

Apparently, all the kidnapped women were all conveniently placed in one of the bed rooms. Happy blinked at the human pyramid formed by sleeping girls piled atop of one another. The crewmen obviously has no respect for women. If Erza knew about this, she would give hell to those men, especially Bora and Happy shuddered at the thought. Bora should be glad that at least he, Natsu and Lucy are the ones to foil Bora's plans and not 'Titania'.

A sudden thought entered Happy's head and the blue exceed's eyes widen in horror. How is he supposed to carry all these women back to Hargeon? Sure, he is strong but he can't carry that many people!

"Gah! Another rolling barrel! Someone catch it!"

"Oh no! There's another one! Watch out!"

Happy let out an amused chuckle, glad that the momentary distraction snapped him out of his panicked thoughts. Now's not the time to panic. Lucy and Natsu is depending on him to carry out the main part of the second phrase. The blue cat may be doing most of the work but his blonde friend is the one with the most risks by confronting Bora himself and he's not letting her down.

Out of the corner of his eyes, Happy noticed a fairly large wooden rowing boat hanging at the ledge of the ship by two ropes. He quickly recognized as an emergency boat in that one of those old picture books Levy used to read at the guild when she was child. Maybe that would work...

' _Finally! That's the last one!'_

Happy gave a tired sigh of relief after he unceremoniously dumped the last sleeping girl on the mini wooden boat. Carrying so many girls onto one boat is tiring, especially when a few moments ago; he was carrying heavy wooden barrels and dropping them off the second floor one by one. The blue exceed hoped that the wooden boat would be able to hold that many people…

"What the-!? What is that cat doing!?"

Oh crap.

* * *

"Hey, let me go!" Lucy could hear Happy cried out indignantly.

Said celestial mage ran as fast as she could to catch up with Bora and by the time she managed to arrive at the second floor of the ship near the emergency boats section, she could not help but balked at the human pyramid of sleeping girls stacked on top of one another on a rowing wooden boat hanging off by two ropes. The sight is so obvious that Lucy wondered if Happy was even trying to be inconspicuous in attempting to rescue the kidnapped girls.

Lucy than noticed that most of the crewmen around look bruised and battered. Not to mention that there's a lot of barrels lying around. What the heck happened? Seems like Bora is having the same thoughts as her when the false Salamander stormed up to the man who is holding Happy captive.

"What the hell is going on?! And what the heck is this thing!?" Bora demanded impatiently, pointing at the blue exceed.

"Hey, I am not a thing! I'm Happy!" Said blue cat retorted in anger as he struggled in his captor's arms.

"It talks!?" Bora exclaimed, unable to believe his ears.

"Yeah, and I bet it's the one that set those barrels rolling all over the ship!" One of the men, Lucy faintly recognised the voice as Doris, added eagerly.

Oh. So Happy did try to distraction the men while rescuing the kidnapped the girls by using barrels to cause confusion. How come she never heard the chaos that was going on outside while she was talking to Bora? Regardless, she can't help but feel proud of Happy for being creative. Too bad things has turn for the worst in the end.

"Well then. Since this 'Happy' thinks he could walk away by kidnapping these poor innocent women, let's teach him a lesson." Bora said, sadism clear in his eyes as Happy's face twisted into a fearful expression.

The Fairy Tail imposter then glanced at Lucy with an apologetic expression, as if he's trying to reassure her that the culprit will no longer be bothering them.

"Sorry, my dear. But it's best you don't see this. My punishments can quite... violent." He said in a tone of false remorse.

' _Oh no, you don't!'_

Like hell is Lucy going to let a man like Bora hurt Happy. Even though the blue cat clearly enjoy annoying the crap out of her, Lucy grew fond of Happy and enjoyed her interactions with him like a little brother she never had. If Natsu isn't here to protect happy from danger, she'll gladly protect the blue exceed in his place.

However, before Lucy could take out one of her celestial keys to summon Taurus to beat the crap out of these men, she felt a sudden spike in temperature and everyone instinctively looked out to the ocean in the direction of Hargeon.

A flaming meteor is heading towards the ship/yacht and inside it is an absolutely livid Natsu whose face expression promised pure vengeance.

' _Oh boy…'_ Lucy thought in anticipation.

The moment Natsu made impact on Bora's ship, he made a fiery explosion that has half the crew men thrown overboard by the shockwave. Lucy's quick reflexes allowed her to avoid it by running straight into the man holding Happy, pushing him down while she grabbed the disoriented cat and jumped into the crowded wooden boat where there's fortunately a free space to sit on before the fire mage made impact.

Flames surrounded the dragon slayer as he aggressively sent out waves of heat to intimidate Bora and his remaining crew men, as the wooden floor around the fire mage starts to smoulder.

How **dare** Bora threatened to **torture** Happy. He's going to make him **pay**.

"Natsu…?" Said salmon-haired boy could hear Lucy ask with uncertainty in her voice.

Natsu glanced back sharply at Lucy who immediately flinched upon looking at him. He wouldn't blame her either. Considering the fact he's basically the infamous E.N.D, he had never thought he would take a good look at himself and he realises that he too is afraid of himself. Heck, he's completely covered in flames and his face expression isn't helping either.

Even if nobody knew that he's E.N.D at this point of time, Natsu on his own can be really scary when he's extremely angry.

"Lucy," Natsu growled, said blonde looked at him attentively with a tinge of fear, "Once you get Happy and the girls far way enough, summon Aquarius and destroy this ship!"

Natsu could see the celestial mage's auburn eyes widen in shock and he knew her (well, her past/future self) long enough that she's going to argue back for his sake, considering the fact that he too will be swept away by Aquarius's tsunami.

As much as that thought warms his heart, he could feel his motion sickness acting up already and immediately clutched his stomach. No, he's not going to let his motion sickness ruin their situation any more than it already had. He pushed back the sickening feeling of nausea at the back of his mind as much as he could.

"But Natsu-!"

"I'll be fine, now **GO**!"

The dragon slayer shot a pair of fireballs from his hands at the two ropes that were holding up the boat that Lucy, Happy and the other kidnapped girls are on. The fire balls made contact with the hemp ropes and the intense heat causes the polypropylene to burn until it snapped.

Lucy screamed, one hand holding tightly on the ledge of the rowing boat while the other is holding a screaming Happy. Once the boat made impact on the water, Lucy thanked her lucky stars that she, Happy and the other girls did not get thrown out of the boat.

The celestial mage looked back up at the ship worriedly, as she could see orange and purple fireballs being thrown around. Back when they were discussing their plans, Natsu told her that he has severe motion sickness whenever he is on a moving vehicle which only give him more reason not to get involved in taking down Bora unless absolutely necessary. Not to mention that he might be in danger of drowning if she has to summon Aquarius…

Happy, who just got back his bearings, noticed Lucy's concerned expression and quickly tried to reassure her.

"Don't worry about Natsu, Lucy! He can take care of himself. We have to hurry back to Hargeon and summon Aquarius!" the blue cat exclaimed.

Lucy let out a sigh before letting out a determined expression. Happy's right. Natsu is depending on her to finish this once and for all. Besides, he isn't called 'The Salamander' for nothing. Even though water is a natural enemy to his fire, he'll survive the wave. She's sure of it.

"Alright Happy, let's get back to Hargeon! Where are the oars?"

* * *

If Lucy wants to be honest, rowing a boat full of sleeping girls is ludicrously slow and demanding. She and Happy hasn't even reach halfway across the ocean to Hargeon and already the blue cat is letting out complaints once in a while.

"Are we there yet?" Happy moaned.

"No, we're not!" Lucy snapped back in irritation, her concentration on rowing both oars slightly wavered.

The celestial mage glanced back at Bora's ship, more than half of it covered in flames. She hoped that Natsu will be okay… A sudden thought entered her mind, one that she found it very peculiar.

"Wait a minute, how did Natsu knew we were in trouble?" Lucy thought out loud.

Happy stared at her incredulously, as if she should know the answer herself.

"Lucy, he's a dragon slayer." Happy replied in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Yeah, so?" Lucy retorted, annoyed at Happy's answer.

"Didn't Natsu and I explained to you back at Hargeon? Dragon slayers have dragon senses. That means that they have heightened senses that are much better than most people. Natsu must've have heard me struggling just now."

"From all the way in Hargeon!?" Lucy exclaimed incredulously.

"Yep! Natsu's hearing is that good!" the blue exceed replied enthusiastically.

Lucy rubbed her head in disbelief. It's no wonder that Natsu came just right on time to rescue her and Happy, well mostly Happy since he's the one in danger. Lucy felt glad that the fire mage chose the right moment to appear because attempting to summon two celestial spirits of the zodiac in a row can seriously deplete most of her magic.

The celestial mage then remembered the furious expression on Natsu's face and shuddered. She never liked seeing him getting angry. That one time she accidentally insulted Natsu was bad enou-

 ** _'YoU cAnNoT dEfY dEsTiNY '_**

Something immediately snapped inside Lucy, as though there is some primal force controlling her body. Lucy gasped in horror as she could feel something powerful enveloping her mind, her free will slipping away until she could see nothing but darkness.

Happy, who was looking out to the ocean in boredom, heard his blonde friend's horrified gasp and turned around in worry.

"Lucy, what's wro-!?"

The blue exceed stopped speaking halfway, eyes widened in fear. His body shook in terror at the sight that behold him. No, it's not the sight of Lucy who seemed to be in a zombie-like trance that terrifies him. It's the… being that is floating atop the celestial mage.

If there's such a thing as a bogeyman, Happy is sure that the entity possessing Lucy in front of him is one. The entity is covered in a tattered, ebony cloak with rows of blue eldritch-like markings sewn onto it. Azure clockwork symbols surrounded the cloaked entity like bees to their hive. Its skeletal-like arm is stretched out, hovering above Lucy's head and the blue exceed could see blueish stream of pure magical energy that contains numbers and arrow heads flowing from it emaciated palm. Its face remained hidden under its frayed hood.

Happy remained petrified in his spot, unable to even think properly in front of such a menacing. Even though the entity did not seem violent, Happy could sense it emanating an ancient magic so powerful that it causes the poor cat to feel somewhat disoriented. He has never felt magic that intense before and the only thought he could conjure in his mind was-

' _That monster is not natural.'_

Happy then noticed that his blonde friend started moving in a mechanical manner that causes the blue exceed to feel disturbed by her actions. With blank eyes, Lucy took out the golden key of Aquarius and proceeded to summon the celestial spirit.

"Open, Gate of the Water Bearer. Aquarius." Lucy muttered emotionlessly.

Happy watched in awe as a whirlpool of water gathered before collapsing, revealing a cerulean mermaid that has a long, blue fish-tail, light blue hair that reaches up to her waist, and a rather large bust. The celestial spirit held a golden urn that has intricate royal design. The Water Bearer gave a very nasty scowl on her face, unamused at her being suddenly summoned.

"Tsk. Listen here, brat. I was getting ready for my-"

Aquarius' eyes widen upon the sight of the mysterious being and gave a howl of outrage, unleashing a torrent of water from her urn and blast it at the offending entity. Luck seems to be on the entity's side as its quick reflexes allows it to dodge the sudden attack by the enraged water spirit.

Happy became surprised when he gave out a sigh of relief. The ancient magic that was somehow making him scared stiff left its hold on his body.

With a thunderous expression, Aquarius screamed furiously at the top of her lungs and flown straight to the entity's hidden face. She then jabbed her urn at its chest repeatedly.

" **Look here** , you **bunch** of broken **cogs**! I don't **care shit** if you're **one** of the **Great** Temporal Spirits of **Chronos** ; if you **ever** lay a **curse** on my **master again, I WILL TORTURE YOU AND DROWN YOU AND BLAST YOU WITH WATER ALL THE WAY BACK TO THE TEMPORAL REALM!"**

The entity, now revealed as a temporal spirit, surprisingly remained unfazed and Happy could've sworn he saw a smirk under the shadow of its hood.

' _ **tHe MoRtAl hAs MaDe CoNtAcT wItH tHe DeFiLeR oF tImE. I mUsT pUrIfY hEr PeR oRdErS oF cHrOnOs.'**_

" **I'LL PURIFY YOUR ASS INSTEAD!"**

However, before Aquarius could do anything, the temporal spirit vanished into thin air and the celestial spirit shrieked in indignation much to Happy's dismay. The blue cat is surprised that his ears are not bleeding, considering how loud Aquarius was in her tongue-lashing.

Lucy, who was in a hypnotised trance, jolted back to reality. The poor blonde looked awfully confused as she took in the sight of what seems to be a traumatised Happy and an extremely pissed off Aquarius. Lucy certainly did not remember summoning the water spirit in the middle of the ocean.

"Hu-Huh? Wha-what just happened!?" Lucy stammered, unable to comprehend what just happened.

Aquarius turned around sharply and Lucy flinched in horror upon seeing the water spirit's hellish expression on her face. Said spirit pointed her hand accusingly at her owner.

"You! Tell me what I need to do right now or _**I'll turn you into a drowned corpse, do you hear me!?"**_ Aquarius spat out in fury.

Lucy cowered at Aquarius' unexpected anger. Sure, the celestial spirit is moody most of the time but this is first time that Lucy has ever seen Aquarius this angry. Some spirit from the Celestial Realm must've have really pissed her off, Lucy concluded to herself.

Shaking her head to gain back her bearings of the situation, Lucy pointed her finger at the now half-sunken flaming ship. She took a deep breath and ordered,

"Aquarius, I want you to use your powers and bring that ship back to Hargeon!"

Lucy knew that she and Happy hasn't reached the shore yet to properly carry out the third phase of the plan but she valued her life too much to not be a target of Aquarius' temper.

" **Finally!"**

With utter swiftness, Aquarius used her water powers from the urn and unleashed a fearsome tsunami that enveloped the ship. Unfortunately for the others on the wooden boat though, it took a few seconds for Lucy to realise that the giant wave is also heading into her direction.

"OH SWEET EARTH-"

* * *

"What's the big deal? You think you could've tried not to sweep me up with the ship?!" Lucy retorted angrily, feeling unfair that she too has suffer some of Aquarius' rage when she hasn't done anything at all to deserve it.

Apparently, Lucy and the blue cat managed to land on the sandy beaches of Hargeon where multiple debris surrounded them. And for some strange reason, the kidnapped women were still asleep despite the tsunami conjured by Aquarius.

"Oh that was an accident. I wasn't aiming at the ship." Said water spirit replied nonchalantly.

"Wait, that means you were aiming for me!?" The celestial mage exclaimed incredulously.

"Don't call me for a while. I'm going for a week-long vacation with my boyfriend," And with one last comment, she added, "And he's **hot**."

"You don't have to **rub** it in!" Lucy shouted, unamused just as Aquarius turned her back on her and closed her gate back to the Celestial Realm.

Contrary to Aquarius' apparent mood; just as she turned around before closing her gate, the Water Bearer held a serious frown that is unusual considering her personality.

' _Tch, stupid temporal spirit ruining everything. Sorry my sweet Scorpio, vacation has to wait. I must report this to the Spirit King.'_

Lucy let out a frustrated sigh as she decided to look around. She could literally see destruction everywhere. Uprooted coconut trees, broken wood from the wrecked ship, some of Bora's men lying in the sand unconscious and an odd-looking rainbow-coloured book—wait what?

Lucy rubbed her eyes at the multi-coloured book that was right in front of her. Even though it's covered in wet sand which causes it to appear rather dull and almost opaque, Lucy could make one word on the title which is 'ASTRAL'. Whatever it is, something about it compelled Lucy to pick it up and chose to keep the book. Maybe once everything is over, Lucy would clean the book up and read its content.

Happy, who had just woke up, was about to say something to Lucy when he noticed the second most strange sight after the encounter with temporal spirit that he has ever seen.

"Lucy! Why is that bird hanging in the air!?" Happy exclaimed in shock.

"Wait, what!?"

Lucy followed the direction of Happy's stunned stare and gasped. There it is, a flying seagull suspended in the air. That's when Lucy realised something is wrong. Since Hargeon is a port city, it would be very lively at night and there would lots of people walking about in the area. However, Lucy could only hear nothing. At this point, there should be crowd gathering in front of the ship wreck. She tried to inspect the area more closely and covered her mouth in astonishment once she noticed a shocking sight.

Just like the seagull, Lucy could see every citizen and visitor of Hargeon all stuck in suspended animation. She couldn't feel the breeze of the ocean and the waves that are supposed to swish about in the water froze in suspension.

' _It's like time has stopped…'_

All of a sudden, Lucy and Happy could hear someone grunting and stared at the direction of the sound. Both of them saw a figure pushing a rubble out of the way and along came a familiar sight of spiky, salmon hair.

Lucy and Happy could not help but let out a cry of relief.

"NATSU!" They both shout out in happiness.

* * *

 _-Play English cover of Masayume Chasing by Monistar while reading-_

 _ **I'm lost in my dream, I'll see the unseen, the forest of my heart and my thoughts**_

"Guys?" Natsu yell out in pleasant surprise, grinning at the sight of his nakama.

 _ **I'm standing right here, the future unclear. I forced a distorted smile.**_

"NATSU!" Happy cried out, before crashing into the fire mage's chest and hugged him desperately, a hug that is reciprocated by Natsu. The blue cat felt relief to see his foster father again after so much strange things that has happened in the entire day.

 _ **Shed all my tears, I fell apart. (Don't cry) Chasing a distant dream in my heart.**_

Lucy smiled at the touching scene before hearing trampling noises of footsteps. The celestial mage then has shocking realisation that time is flowing once more. The waves are finally moving again and the sounds of a busy street returned in full force.

 _ **Not letting go of all the tears (fall from my eyes). They made me strong, helped me see clear.**_

"Crap! Lucy, Happy! We have to get away!" Natsu shouted in horror, who noticed the Army incoming.

"Huh! What do you mea- HEY! Where are you taking me!?" Lucy exclaimed while Natsu grabbed her hand and made a run for the hills.

 _ **Here I go, I'm chasing, chasing for the unseen!**_

Happy, for his part, used his wings to fly up while keeping track with Natsu and Lucy. He laughed playfully at the sight of Lucy's flabbergasted expression on her face, much to his blonde friend's dismay.

 _ **Run through the walls that keep concealed!**_

While being dragged by hand from Natsu as they're being chased by the Army, Lucy noticed a sight for sore eyes. The flaming emblem of Fairy Tail is seen blazing on the Cliffside of Hargeon.

"What the heck did you do, Natsu!?"

 _ **The dream I'm chasing, chasing gotta believe!**_

Said dragon slayer saw the burning symbol and his forehead burrowed in confusion.

"That's strange. It should've finished by now." He thought out loud.

"I think the more important question is that why would you do that!?" Lucy cried out.

 _ **I'll turn into someone. It's time I become my hero!**_

 _ **Na na na na na na na OH! Na na na na na na na Hey Hey! Na na na na na na na OH!**_

Natsu chuckled mischievously and gave a bright smile of happiness at her. Lucy refused to admit that she could feel her heart thumping upon the sight of jubilant jade eyes staring proudly back at her auburn eyes.

 _ **This flame in my heart, it burns on!**_

"Well, I want to leave a message to Fairy Tail. Telling everyone you're our new nakama!"

Lucy is speechless. Even though it seems so idiotic since the emblem will definitely capture the attention of the Magic Council, Lucy can't help but feel touched that Natsu would readily accept her into the guild despite the disastrous turn of events. Not to mention that she had never thought that Natsu would make fire look so beautiful in the form of the Fairy Tail emblem.

 _ **Na na na na na na na OH! Na na na na na na na Hey Hey! Na na na na na na na OH!**_

"You-you did that for me?" Lucy stuttered.

"Of course! You passed the test!" Natsu exclaimed happily.

Then the fire mage gave an even brighter smile than Lucy originally thought.

"You said you want to join the Fairy Tail guild, didn't you?" Natsu said. It was a statement, not a question.

 _ **It's time I become my HERO!**_

"So let's go!"

Small tears leaked out of joyful brown eyes, their owner returning a smile that's just as bright as the grin on the face of the boy with emerald eyes and salmon hair.

"Alright!" Lucy exclaimed in delight as the trio of dragon slayer, celestial mage and blue exceed ran away (in Happy's case, fly) beyond the borders of Hargeon.

It's time to reunite with Fairy Tail.

* * *

A/N: Yes! Finally finished! I'm so sorry but I had to put in the song and the burning emblem scene. Sorry if it seems to be a rip off of the ending of the final episode of FTZ but I can't help it. The ending was so beautiful and that's when I was inspired to write down the end scene for this chapter. And don't worry, there's no spoilers in this chapter from the last episode of Fairy Tail Zero in case some of you readers haven't watch it yet. Credits to Monistar from YouTube for making a wonderful English cover and BoA for singing the original Masayume Chasing, the 15th opening song of the anime as well as the first opening song for Fairy Tail 2014.

Holy matrimony, writing this chapter is even longer than I anticipated! It's like trying to build a wall of text in one hour. I really hope that Natsu and Happy did not seem to be OOC in here because while I feel that I could write Lucy in character well, writing Natsu and Happy's characters is very hard because their personalities can be a bit too complex for me to understand.

So yeah, what you see in chapter 2 is basically a retelling of the second half of episode 1 but there's also the presence of the temporal spirits and the unexpected time stop of Hargeon. I won't provide explanations for why they happened or who they are because that's spoilers but I can tell you this. Natsu did not use the Eclipse gate to time travel. Instead he chose an alternative method, one that the temporal spirits are not happy with.

Sorry if Natsu's fight with Bora did not happen because most of that fight happened off screen back at the ship while Lucy and Happy were at ocean. I'm not really confident in writing fighting scenes but I'll try my best to make a proper fight scene for the next few chapters.

So for my updating schedule… Well, it's random at best. My personal life so unpredictable that either I have lots of time to spend writing a chapter or I have none at all. I know I said I upload chapter 2 by next month but only 2-3 weeks have passed since. Well, I said that in April and now it's May. From now on, I will always upload at least once a month but I don't have a fixed date so it can happen anytime in one of the four weeks. But I assure you, I will upload the next chapter in a month. So place your review and give constructive criticism because I know my story isn't perfect but no flames please!

Now, it's time for me to reply to the reviews and I will only choose 3 to answer:

zzMiya-chanzz  
\- Hey, thanks for the compliment! It's nice to know that my story is considered to be good by others' standards. You're right in a way though. I can't find a single FT fanfic about time travel that isn't about Natsu and his harems or the fanon second generation characters like Nashi screwing with time. It's this frustration of not being able to find a decent FT fanfic about time travel that actually inspired me to write this story. That and I'm also a NaLu shipper .

dyanagonzalez0  
\- Thanks! I'm so glad you think highly of my story.

Johnny Spectre  
\- Thanks for the compliment! Writing this story is fun but also a handful.

Oh thank you so much for your positive reviews! Even though I got 7 for the first chapter at the time of writing part 2, all of your reviews are so encouraging. As a bonus for making me feel proud of my fic, here's a sneak peak for the next few chapters.

* * *

 _Two pairs of sapphire blue eyes and hardened ruby orbs widen in shock._

" _Um… Master, may you repeat to Juvia again?''_

" _The Water Woman's right. Did you just say what I think you say?"_

 _Jose Porla let out an amused smile._

" _I understand your concern very well. Believe me, I don't want to lose two of my precious S-class mages to those wretched fairies but a certain… advisor told me that this is the most effective way of doing this mission."_

 _The Master of Phantom Lord let out a wistful sigh._

" _I shall repeat myself again. Infiltrate Fairy Tail and find out the secret of the_ _Lumen Histoire._

* * *

" _What is the meaning of this!?" 'Siegrain' protested incredulously._

 _The captain of the Rune Knights smirked victoriously._

" _You are under arrest for attempting to impersonate a member of the Magic Council. Am I right, Jellal Fernandez?"_

 _Siegrain, now known as Jellal, look surprised for a moment before giving his own smirk as he slowly starts to clap his hands._

" _I see. Very well, congratulations. But can you really catch me?"_

 _As soon as he finished talking, Jellal vanished into thin air much to the ire of the captain._

* * *

" _I regret not taking a train." Lucy moaned, tired from all the walking in the countryside._

" _Too bad, Luce. There's no way am I getting on a train!" Natsu retorted while almost puking at the thought of transportation._

" _You could've asked Wendy to come along, you know," Happy scoffed, "That way, she can use Troia on you. I wonder how Charle is doi-"_

" _Wait, what did you just_ say _?"_

* * *

See yah!


	3. Chapter 3

**Fairy Tail: Shining Embers Of Destiny**

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. **Ever**.

A/N: See below.

 _Chapter 3: Under the Starry Skies_

* * *

 ** _3 July, X784_**

 _Dear Mom,_

 _The past few days has been the most hectic and possibly, the happiest days of my life. Granted, I did have a few heart attacks here and there from what I had experienced but I got through in the end. Guess what I'm talking about?_

 _I finally got the chance to join Fairy Tail!_

 _Oh my gosh, I can't believe I'm actually going to join the one guild I've always admired ever since the day I first learnt about them after one of them saved me when I was younger._

 _And it's all thanks to my new found friends, Natsu Dragneel and his annoying cat friend named Happy. It's true! His cat is named after an emotion, has fur the colour of blue and even have wings to fly! He kinda reminds me of the old stories of the Exceeds you once told me back then. He seems like one._

 _As for Natsu… Did you know that he is actually the infamous Salamander of Fairy Tail! He's the one who offered me the opportunity to join the guild in the first place and despite my first impression of him, I have never met a better friend then him._

 _Sure, he seems super annoying at times like Happy and has an endless void he calls a stomach but if it wasn't for him, I might have ended up in Bosco instead._

 _Oh right, I didn't write down what happened at Hargeon. You see mom, there's this sleazebag of a wizard named Bora going around town affecting girls with charm magic. You know, the kind of magic that has been banned and forbidden to use since 4 years ago!?_

 _Anyway, the real problem with Bora is that he has been using his charm magic to kidnap girls and sell them as slaves to Bosco! At least, that was what Natsu told me about_ _that little titbit of information that he found out during his fight with Bora. He was not amused however when he realised that Bora has plans for me as well. The end result? Most of Bora's ship were burned to ashes._

 _I kinda help destroy the rest of it by summoning Aquarius. I've already told you how destructive she is when she's very moody._

 _Speaking of Aquarius, I noticed something very weird that night. I don't actually remember summoning her at all. The only other person who was there with me was Happy and he refused to tell me what exactly happened. He looks… traumatised when I asked him about it. Maybe someday I will ask him again. Aquarius' rage is something nobody wants to experience and the events that happened earlier are fresh on everyone's minds._

 _Like the time stop, oh great Earthland; it was frightening. I can't hear a thing and everything ranging from not just people but also animals and even the waves, aren't moving at all. Apart from me, Natsu and Happy, everything were frozen in place and it was so scary._

 _This kind of thing is bound to spread rumours across the entire of Fiore. I don't know why or how it happened but I hope that the Magic Council would focus their attention on it. Maybe they won't sent out wanted posters of me and Natsu for causing major destruction at Hargeon…_

 _If I want to be honest, Natsu Dragneel is definitely one of the most stupidest yet sweetest guy I've ever met. Did you know that he set the Cliffside of Hargeon ablaze with the freaking emblem of Fairy Tail!?_

 _In fact, he did it just to welcome me as his new nakama of Fairy Tail. I just can't help but feel so overwhelmed that he would go that far to accept me into his family._

 _Sure, it's such a stupid thing to do since it'll attract the attention of the Magic Council but the way he styled his fire to resemble the symbol… I've never thought that Natsu of all people, the most destructive mage of Fairy Tail and possibly the entire of Fiore, can make fire look so beautiful. Like a blazing star in the night sky._

 _If you're still alive… I'm definitely sure you'll enjoy meeting him and Happy. Those two are such a lively bunch, especially Natsu. Without him, I-_

"What'cha writing about, Luce?" came a familiar voice of a certain pink-haired dragon slayer.

Speak of the **_devil_**.

"WAH! What the hell, Natsu!" Lucy screeched in indignation, her attempt to smack him in the head with her iconic 'Lucy Kick' failed as he swiftly dodged the attack much to her dismay.

It has been two days since Natsu, Lucy and Happy left Hargeon for the trip to Magnolia. After the trio made a quick backtrack to Lucy's hotel room to grab their supplies, the threesome has been walking in the countryside non-stop for hours since they couldn't ride a train for obvious reasons such as a particular fire mage's infamous motion sickness.

Currently, the trio hade made camp in a small, nice-looking meadow near a lake that is a 5 to 10 km away from Magnolia. Natsu would rather continue the journey since he's not really tired at all but he has to remind himself that Lucy of the past/present did not have the same stamina as her future self, who often have to keep up with the fire dragon slayer's boundless enthusiasm in their quests in the previous timeline.

That said, their new campsite is certainly a lot of times better than their previous one which has been situated in the middle of the forest on the first night after running away from Hargeon.

Despite Natsu's best efforts to burn away the mosquitoes that has been plaguing them the night before, the poor blonde couldn't stop itching her arms and legs for hours. Besides, the meadow doesn't have a lot of malicious insects and there's a clear patch of soil large enough for Natsu to set up a campfire without ever worrying about lighting the nearby plants on fire.

In a nutshell, their current campsite is the perfect choice to spend the night. There's also the added bonus of not having a canopy of leaves covering the night sky showing all of its shining stars in their glory for both Natsu and Lucy to appreciate.

Natsu smirked victoriously at the fuming celestial mage, who had managed to quickly stash away her incomplete letter inside her travelling bag before her intrusive friend of a dragon slayer could read it.

"Hey, Natsu? Have you ever heard privacy?!" Lucy scowled threateningly as she waved her arms in an enraged manner.

Said fire mage however, remained unfazed by Lucy's anger but he at least has the decency to look guilty for prying into something very personal to his blonde friend.

"Sorry, Lucy," Natsu said ruefully, rubbing the back of his head, "I was just curious."

Lucy let out a huff of irritation before sighing in resignation, having her own feelings of guilt taking over for the attempt to hit Natsu. She might've overreacted a bit but she does not appreciate people reading her stuff.

Even so, she shouldn't have acted like that. He was just curious about what she was writing, that's all. At least her pink-haired friend is being apologetic about the situation and his quick reflexes still work outside of battles…

Except for that one moment back in the jungle when Natsu claimed to have 'scratched' his elbow from a random tree branch and actually bandaged his entire arm!

Not to stray off topic, Lucy felt guilty regardless.

"Just… Don't do that again, okay? I don't like it when people read my stuff." Lucy said, rubbing her forehead.

Natsu was silent for a while before he finally spoke.

"So… What were you writing about?"

In reality, the fire dragon slayer knew exactly what his blonde friend was writing about.

After all, he did read some of those letters in Lucy's apartment out of curiosity whenever the celestial mage wasn't looking in the previous timeline and he wants to smack his past self for causing a serious breach of trust. Eventually, he got found out and the end result wasn't pleasant at all.

Let's just say that a week of silence with a livid Lucy and hours of torture from an enraged Erza was an event he does not want to repeat again.

Lucy glanced at the fire mage in surprise before staring at the burning campfire with a deep look of contemplation.

Currently, the two mages are sitting comfortably beside each other in front of the campfire. Happy was snoozing off in content, oblivious to what was going on around him.

After another moment of silence, Lucy finally replied to Natsu's question albeit her voice quavered.

"I… I was writing to my mother…"

The blonde bit her lip in apprehension.

Lucy has never confided to anyone about her late mother before and that's simply because of the fact that she has no reason to.

After all, she doesn't have any friends in her childhood. Lucy's father neglected her and the stellar mage herself dislikes talking about such a morbid topic with her staff and spirits alike.

"Your mother?" Natsu spoke softly, his face expression is a mix of concern and curiosity.

"Yeah, my mother…" the blonde repeated despondently, grudgingly remembering the bittersweet memories of the times she spend together with her loving mother.

In fact, Natsu's pink hair reminded Lucy of a certain memory many years ago…

* * *

 _"_ _Momma, momma!" Little Lucy called out eagerly._

 _"_ _Oh! What is it, Lucy?" Lucy's mother, Layla, replied._

 _"_ _What's that?" The younger blonde pointed at a large tree which many of its' branches are filled with beautiful, rosy flowers._

 _"_ _That's a cherry blossom tree, Lucy." Layla replied with an amused smile._

 _"_ _Cherry blossom tree?" Her daughter asked in confusion._

 _"_ _Yes, it's a cherry blossom tree," Layla explained with sombreness, her eyes closed, "It's often a symbol of humility because the blooming of the flowers are very short, often leading to an instant flourish and sudden death."_

 _"_ _Why it seems so significant is that the flower serves as a reminder of mortality and knowing that the life of a human being can end anytime just like the flower. It helps people realise how short life really is and that they should live it well."_

 _"_ _Live… it… well?" Little Lucy said in confusion. In her young mind, her mother's words were a bit too complicated to understand._

 _"_ _Yes… Lucy, do you want to become a celestial mage?" Layla asked a simple question with solemnity, knowing that her daughter was still young and could not comprehend her earlier explanation._

 _"_ _Of course, mommy! I want to collect all of the gold keys and be the greatest star mage ever!" Little Lucy exclaimed excitedly. Internally though, she was rather confused by how her mother voiced her question in a very serious tone._

 _Layla giggled for a bit, the tension in the air disappeared. Her daughter's enthusiasm can be quite infectious most of the time._

 _"_ _I see then. Lucy, do you want to know what the other value the cherry blossom symbolises?"_

 _"_ _Sure mommy! I want to know!" Little Lucy spoke elatedly. Truthfully, the young girl still could not understand Layla's explanations but she loved to hear her mother's voice regardless._

 _"_ _Cherry blossoms are also known as the symbol of hope. The intensity and liveliness of the flowers whenever they bloom, represents the chance for anyone to be optimistic and the hope to achieve wonderful things in the future." Layla explained once more, her tone this time was more tranquil._

 _"_ _Huh?" As much as the younger blonde enjoyed hearing her mother speak, Layla never fails to confuse her daughter with all those 'very wordy' explanations. All that little Lucy could understand is that cherry blossoms must've been very happy things._

 _"_ _Lucy, I'm sorry if I confuse you with all these complicated words." Layla spoke, her auburn eyes apologetic._

 _Little Lucy made a wide smile._

 _"_ _It's okay, momma. I really like your voice!"_

 _Layla let out an amused giggle._

 _"_ _Why, thank you. Let's get back quickly. It's getting rather late and we both know daddy don't like waiting!"_

 _"_ _Of course, momma! Let's go!"_

* * *

"Lu-Lucy, don't cry!" a familiar voice from a certain rosy-haired dragon slayer cried out in alarm.

"Huh!?" Said blonde replied in confusion.

As soon as the stellar mage was brought back to reality, she could feel a wet substance staining her cheeks. To a naked eye, it's very obvious what the substance really was.

Lucy immediately wiped away her tears, internally cursing over the fact that she let herself become vulnerable again. What is wrong with her? Ever since she first met Natsu, it seems as though her emotions has decided to go wild all over the place.

The blonde felt extremely embarrassed. This is the second time she broke down in front of Natsu and this is not the impression she wants to give off to mages of Fairy Tail; that she was a very sensitive girl who would cry at even the thought of sad memories.

Natsu would probably think that she is such a cry-baby.

Even so, the gaping hole in her heart that was used to be filled with the happy memories of a little girl and her mother has expanded way too much to be ignored the moment Lucy has her flashback of the cherry blossoms.

Tears streamed down her face as she continued to sob uncontrollably, her cheeks flushed as she desperately to wipe away the tears. Lucy hadn't cried like this ever since her mother's death and she felt so horribly confused. Why is she still sad?

Even though she still missed her late mom, she has already moved on. There's no need for more tears to be shed.

So why is she still crying?

Suddenly, she felt warm arms enveloping her shaking body. When she looks up, she became stunned still when she looked up to see a pair of familiar, green eyes looking at her with worry and sincerity.

"Lucy, you don't have to tell me everything. Just… Please don't be sad." Natsu spoked quietly, the tone of his voice is earnest and tinged with empathy.

Lucy is struggling to comprehend the fact that she is being comforted by Natsu, an action that has been denied to her by her father since her late mother's passing. It has been so long since she felt such affection from someone else who cared that much for her and that causes the waterworks to become even worse.

"I... I'm...*sob*... so sorry I...*sob*... didn't mean...*sob*... to…" Lucy croaked despondently, her attempt to apologise for being such an emotional mess was constantly interrupted by whimpers in between her words.

"…There's no need to apologise, Lucy. I'm not blaming you for anything." Natsu replied with reassurance, letting the celestial mage know that he's not annoyed with her.

Natsu's next action would shock Lucy even more.

The fire mage then let his hand hold onto the top of his blonde friend's head, his forehead slowly come in contact with hers.

"We're nakama, remember? If you're sad, I will never mind lending a shoulder to cry on."

Lucy couldn't help but feel a sense of déjà vu going on. It's not Natsu's words that causes the tingling sensation, but rather his actions that did it. Whatever the two of them are doing right now, it felt as though they did it before.

It's almost as if… As if…

* * *

 _The blonde's breath shuddered as the pink-haired dragon slayer let his forehead pressed on hers._

 _"_ _I like to thank you. You risked your life for us, for our future." He spoked with gratitude in his voice._

 _Her only response was a single tear drop streaming down her cheek._

* * *

 _'_ _What… What was that?'_

Lucy's mind is in turmoil. On one side, her first friend is comforting her in the most intimate way possible and on the other, a mysterious vision that is implied to be a past memory even though Lucy has no recollection of such event about her and Natsu.

Glittering, auburn eyes connected with concerned, emerald eyes.

At that moment, Lucy knew in the deepest excess of her heart that Natsu truly cared about her. Screw common sense, she may have only knew him for several days but the fire-mage has already proven to her that he cherished his nakama deeply.

Lucy returned her first- no, not first friend. She returned her first, **best** friend's hug with her own albeit even tighter.

This causes Natsu to grunt in surprise.

* * *

 _He hummed in acknowledgement as his onyx eyes glanced back at the blonde girl hugging his back._

 _"_ _Hey… Is something wrong?"_

* * *

He grunted in anticipation as his jade eyes stared at the blonde girl hugging him back.

"Hey… You're feeling better?"

* * *

 _"…_ _No, it's nothing… I'm okay…"_

* * *

"…Yeah, mostly… I just want to say…"

 _ **"**_ _ **Thank you."**_

* * *

 _If you're still alive… I'm definitely sure you'll enjoy meeting him and Happy. Those two are such a lively bunch, especially Natsu. Without him, I might have never met a more amazing, dependable friend_ _ **and**_ _nakama like him._

 _I still have a lot more things that I want to tell you about, Mom but I'm really tired and my mind is a mess. Tomorrow, I'll write another letter okay?_

 _With lots of love from your daughter,  
Lucy Heartfillia_

* * *

Emerald eyes stared serenely at the reflection of the gleaming stars on the lake's surface as their owner affectionately twirling the blonde hair of his best friend, who is then sleeping quite contently on the dragon slayer's lap.

The campfire crackled as Natsu's face expression start to harden once sombre thoughts starts fill the pinkette's head. Once the excitement of the successful trip back in time and managing to get through the major events that were supposed to happen albeit slightly altered, the fire mage is finally able to take a breather and reflect seriously on his situation as a time traveller. Natsu had never been the type to have deep thoughts but… Certain, traumatizing events from the future has him to reconsider a lot of things.

The timeline that he knew so well since he obviously experienced it, no longer existed and that meant everyone he knew back then are gone forever. No matter how much he tried to do, no matter how much he done to prevent it, the people he once knew as nakama will no longer be the same as their future counterparts.

Natsu knew that he had to be careful with the choices he will make because even one wrong decision could potentially turn people he once knew as nakama into the most bitter of enemies. Take Gajeel and Juvia, for example. Natsu has known them for being two of Fairy Tail's most loyal wizards to ever live. In this period of time however, they're members of Phantom Lord and that makes them arch enemies of Fairy Tail. If Natsu made one wrong decision that causes the timeline to change drastically, those two might end up as entirely different people then the pinkette remembered.

There's also the issue of the… Temporal spirits.

Even the mere thought about them left a sour taste in the fire dragon slayer's mouth. Natsu's first encounter with them was during his first attempt to travel back in time to the past and it wasn't a very pleasant one. Never had he met such self-centered beings that even made the celestial spirit, Aquarius look like a very caring person in comparison. He can never forget the scent of the bastards who tried to stop him from changing the future.

Especially when he could smell said scent that has been lingering on Lucy.

The fire mage wasn't dumb. Sure, he can be very dense but nothing can fool a nose as good as his. He knew his presence in the past must've have pissed off the temporal spirits and somehow one of them managed to get their filthy hands on his best friend. Nothing made Natsu angrier then evil jerkasses inflicting pain on his nakama and with Lucy caught in the crossfire, those spirits are going to pay.

Natsu has never expected to deal with the spirits so early in this period of time and that's going to make everything harder for him to handle. The appropriately named temporal spirits has the magic to manipulate time to a considerable extend and is said to be on par, if not, better than Ultear's Ark of Time.

If it comes to a fight, Natsu sincerely hoped such battle will take place in the later future because as of right now; he's not ready. It seems so uncharacteristic of the dragon slayer to show hesitance instead of eagerness to participate in a fight but Natsu knew what the temporal spirits are capable of.

They liked to cheat a lot by drawing power from their 'master' and Natsu hated that they had an advantage. Unless he managed to reach and maybe even surpass the level of power he used to have back in the previous timeline, he would be curb stomped by those damned spirits if he fights them now.

What worries the fire mage even more is the effects of the magic that was somehow inflicted on Lucy by a temporal spirit when he wasn't looking. He first caught the foul scent of the magic when he, Lucy and Happy were on the road walking straight after leaving Hargeon. The scent wasn't there when he, technically, first met Lucy either.

Lucy must've been cursed by one of them during her test to take down Bora. As Natsu has expected, Lucy has no memory of ever encountering such a spirit. If she had, she would told him already considering how serious that even a threat posed by a single temporal spirit can be treacherous. Temporal spirits also possesses the magic to manipulate memory as well and while Natsu doesn't care about the purpose of them having it, the fact that they are competent at using such magic makes them dangerous adversaries.

The dragon slayer has a hunch that this mysterious magic inflicted on the celestial mage must've been the cause of Lucy's emotional breakdown several moments ago. If that was the case, it must have been messing around with Lucy's mind and that pisses off Natsu so much because there's nothing that he could do for her. He's a fighter, not a healer. If he tries to bring her to Porlyusica, suspicions will rise and Natsu wouldn't want to deal with questions that he might not be comfortable answering. He sincerely hoped that Lucy would be okay.

Letting out a tired sigh, Natsu began to wonder on how he would be able to continue acting under the façade of his younger self while dealing with the younger versions of his guild mates.

By the time the war with Alvarez started, Natsu was no longer the same boy he was seven years ago in the previous timeline and has already considered himself to be much mature to handle the horrors of whatever was about come after his experience with Tartarus and the death of his father, Igneel.

Natsu considers himself to be very lucky that Lucy did not knew him well at this point of time since she just met him and thus, he could easily manipulate Lucy's first impressions of him. The others like Erza and Mira? Not so much.

Heck, even he was surprised that he hasn't got some form of interrogation from Happy yet. After how he was acting back in Hargeon, he hadn't expected the blue exceed to willingly go along without any protest with the type of plans he made that his younger self wouldn't normally make.

That doesn't mean he should relax with his best friend's compliance of the circumstances however. The moment the dragon slayer arrived in the past, he let his emotions get the better of him and that made Happy to be suspicious of him. The last thing Natsu needs is to reveal his status as a time traveller so early at this point of time. He has to make an explanation in case of a scenario where Happy happens to ask about his 'unusual' attitude.

And not just his attitude, but also his damned green eyes as well!

Natsu remembered the mysterious figure who helped him warned him that the magic that he was using to travel back in time might cause a side effect on his body, especially on the eyes. The fire mage brushed off the warning, as his mind was more set on 'changing the past, saving the future'.

During the journey back to Magnolia, Happy had pointed out to Lucy that pinkette's eyes used to be onyx black instead of emerald green and the dragon slayer himself was surprised at the change, considering that he never bothered to look at the mirror.

Although Natsu never given much thought to his image (he did get angry when people mentioned his pink hair being 'girly'), he does remembered others commenting that the combination of his slant eyes and dark irises made him very intimidating.

He remembered how that conversation goes…

* * *

 _"Huh? But his eyes are green!" Lucy exclaimed incredulously._

 _"Eh, really!?" Natsu yelled in surprise._

 _"Wait, you don't know?" The celestial mage asked in disbelief._

 _"How should I know that my eyes got a colour change?!" The pinkette retorted, just as confused as his blonde friend._

 _Happy surprisingly just watched on attentively without any comment, a hint of suspicion on the blue cat's expression._

* * *

That's just one of the many humorous conversations that happened during their road trip to Magnolia on the first day after escaping Hargeon…

For example, Lucy asked one curious answer regarding why Natsu and Happy just so happens to be at Hargeon at the right timing. The fire dragon slayer grinned in amusement at that particular memory…

* * *

 _"Wait, so the reason why you guys are at Hargeon because you think that Igneel is the 'Salamander'?'' The celestial mage deadpanned. The blonde mage had already been told that Natsu's adoptive father was a dragon._

 _"Yep!" Happy answered enthusiastically._

 _Natsu scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. He already knew how this will go._

 _"How can a fire-breathing dragon show up in the middle of town!? That's totally ridiculous!" Lucy exclaimed incredulously._

 _Happy froze in awkwardness, as though he just realised how absurd the thought was without thinking much when he and his best friend first took up the quest the moment they heard the rumours of the 'Salamander'._

 _"Well, if we did not come because we had think properly, what would happened to you then?" The fire-mage pointed out haughtily._

 _Lucy was about to open her mouth to retort back when she closed it back dumbfounded, having just realised the meaning behind Natsu's words. Her pink-haired friend has a point though. If he and Happy had used their brains and decided not to come to Hargeon, what would happen to her then? Would she end up as a slave in Bosco instead of being a Fairy Tail wizard?_

 _"See? Aren't you lucky you got some really 'dumb' friends?" Natsu teased Lucy, his smug smirk irritating the heck out of her._

 _"We-well, wha-whatever!" She stuttered indignantly in response._

* * *

Despite so many problems present, none of them can really compare to the fact that the number one issue is having to disguise Natsu's demonic heritage as E.N.D.

The fire mage glanced at his bandaged arm and briefly chuckled at the memory of the incredulous expression on his best friends' faces when he told them he 'scratched' his elbow by a random branch back at the jungle, which results in him taking all of the wrapping paper from Lucy's personal emergency medical kit and bandaged his entire arm! Behind the tree of course, where the other two couldn't look.

The real truth is much worse. The annoyance he felt from all those annoying mosquitoes that kept on pestering the trio the previous night was so strong that it causes demonic black tattoos to emerge on his right arm.

Ever since Zeref opened the book of E.N.D, Natsu remembered being possessed by the powerful curse that was held in it. The curse (not magic, just as every member of Tartarus always claimed) would force the dragon slayer to become the demon he was supposed to be and finishing his 'true purpose': kill Zeref and bring the 'end' to humanity.

Natsu's breath shuddered for a moment, his jade eyes glazed as his bandaged arm rise up to hold onto his scaly scarf for comfort.

The traumatising memories during his possession always comes back to haunt him no matter how much he tries to ignore it. The black markings hidden under the bandage will always remind him of that horrifying time. Being E.N.D will never let him forget the atrocities he had committed.

Not after what he did to his friends… After what he did to his nakama… After what he did to Lucy…

His Lucy…And yet she sacrificed her life for him…

* * *

 _"I won't let you go, Natsu! No matter what!"_

 _"Lucy… Don't… come any… closer…"_

 _"No, I won't! You're my best friend and I'm not letting you go!"_

 _"Lucy… Please… I can't… I might… hurt… you…"_

 _"I know how to break your curse!"_

 _"Wha…What?"_

 _"I'll save you just like how you save me! Even… *sob*… Even if it costs me my life!"_

 _"Lucy… Please…No…"_

 _"Don't say that, Natsu…*sob*… You did a lot for me… Let me help you this time…*sob*… Even if it's just one last time…"_

* * *

Natsu's grip on his scarf tightened, a single tear streamed down his cheek before he quickly wiped it away with his other hand. His emerald eyes become brighter, staring straight at the illuminating stars in the sky as he clenched his fists.

No, he will not break down. This is why he travelled back in time. Not just for second chances, but to undo what went wrong. He knows he can't fix everything but damn it, he'll do whatever he could to stop his nakamas' deaths and save the future so that everyone can finally be awarded with peace.

A yawn erupted from Natsu's mouth, causing his eyes to widen in surprise. He must've been thinking too much to point that he's brooding and stressed from all the negativity.

He should really get some good sleep then.

Thankful for the momentary distraction provided by his unexpected yawn, he laid down on the surprisingly soft soil and he shifted his body around so as to bring up Lucy's sleeping body up to his chest; hugging his best friend firmly to his own body. The dragon slayer grunted in surprise when the celestial mage reciprocated by hugging him back.

Natsu knew that his actions might piss off Lucy for putting her in such a compromising position but he doesn't care. He's just too tired from everything that has happened that night and if his blonde friend gets angry… Well, he will deal with it the next morning.

As the fire mage closed his eyes, he let out one last resolute thought before the ever soothing darkness of sleep replaced the starry heavens in his vision.

 ** _"I've… always… believe… in you… ever since… we first met… Natsu…''_**

 _'I will save the future. I promise.'_

* * *

A blue-haired girl walked out of Magnolia's local bookstore with a stack of purchased multi-coloured books of varying genres in her arms, a sigh of content escaping her lips.

Levy Mcgarden felt like the happiest girl in Magnolia. Even the shining stars in the night sky is agreeing with her.

Apparently, she and the rest of team Shadowgear managed to successfully complete three C-ranked missions in a row which they have accumulated a rather hefty sum of fortune. Jet and Droy, the duo always want to please Levy, let the book lover have the lion's share of the money. While she felt guilty for having the most amount of money out of the trio, she is rather satisfied at the fact that she has more than enough to buy the books she wanted to read. Oh imagine the delicious content hidden within these pages, just waiting to be read in the comfort of her home…

Deep in her thoughts, Levy did not notice that she was walking straight in front of a large figure, who seems to be deep in a conversation with a certain exceed sitting on his shoulder. Eventually, she bumped into the other person; dropping her books to the ground. This sequence of events has prompted Levy apologise profusely to the stranger she knocked into while hastily grabbing her fallen books.

"Oh my, I am so sorry! I should have played more attention!" The bluenette said, as she picked another book.

"Tsk, whatever." The gruff voice replied, which Levy assumed that the stranger is obviously male… and he doesn't sound like nice guy.

"Hey, are you just going to stand there and gawk? Go help that girl." Another male voice which Levy realised is quite deep, piped in.

"Wait, what? Do you expect me to help her? Really, Lily?" The gruff voice replied to his other companion.

The solid script mage could not help but note that the person with the deep voice has quite a feminine name, just as she picked up another of her fallen books.

Lily let out an exasperated sigh as he pinched the top of his nose.

"With that attitude of yours, Gajeel… And yet you wonder why you wonder why nobody wants to give us directions to the nearest inn?"

'Inn? Are they travellers?'

Whatever Levy tried to think about, she was interrupted by a large hand who picked up her last book that she was about to pick up.

"Fine, fine. I'll be nice." The gruff voice, Levy realised his name is Gajeel, replied.

When the solid script mage looked up in surprise, she found her own auburn eyes staring back at hard ruby orbs.

The owner of those ruby eyes held his hand out with Levy's purchased book on his palm, wanting to give her back the novel.

"Here."

"O-oh, thank you."

Once Levy has a good look at the person she bumped into a few moments ago, she can't help but gawk at the staggering size difference between her and the stranger named Gajeel. Sure, she's a bit shorter than most people but the guy she's standing in front of made her look like a dwarf in comparison.

In terms of appearance, Gajeel wore a large black cloak that covered almost his entire body with only his hood down; exposing his face. Levy assumed that his hair quite long and spiky, which most of it is concealed under Gajeel's cloak and she does not want to even start with the metal studs decorating his face.

However, what truly shocked the bluenette was the sight of a dark-furred, bipedal cat with a stern expression sitting on Gajeel's shoulder who looked remarkably a lot like an exceed. If Levy didn't know any better, she would have assumed that the black exceed is a long-lost sibling to either Happy or Charla.

For a moment there, she thought she saw a glimpse of amusement in Lily's eyes along with… familiarity?

The solid script mage presume that the black exceed is the other male voice considering she knew that exceeds in general can speak human languages, at least based what she described of his physical appearance.

"Hey, are you done staring?" Gajeel spoke in an irritated tone.

Levy gasped and stuttered random words for a moment. She did not mean to stare that long at a stranger and she has never felt so mortified. She's much better in her manners that this this! Not to mention, she felt really intimidated by Gajeel.

"I-I u-umm… I'm sorry…"

The atmosphere grew tense. Not the bad kind of tense per say, but the kind that feels awkward when talking to a stranger. Levy has no idea what to say alleviate the situation but she felt it would rude to just say goodbye so suddenly. Fortunately, a flashback showed her the answer.

 _'…And yet you wonder why you wonder why nobody wants to give us directions to the nearest inn?'_

A light bulb struck her instantly.

"Hey…" She spoke up as strong as she could.

"Hmm?" Gajeel replied. Technically, the more appropriate word would be a grunt. Lily just stared at the book lover with interest.

"I… I can't help but overhear that you two can't find Magnolia's local inn. I can bring you guys there if you want too."

Gajeel's red eyes widen in surprise, not expecting kindness from a random stranger that had just bumped into him. Lily, however, seems quite pleased by the turn of events judging from his amused expression on his furry face.

"You… You're offering us…?" The iron dragon slayer stuttered, completely taken off guard by Levy's proposition.

"Well, sure why not?" Lily chimed in.

This cause Levy to smile. She reach out her hand to Gajeel, expecting a handshake.

"My name's Levy. Levy Mcgarden. Nice to meet you."

Gajeel stared blankly at her before giving a side glance to his cat companion in which said Exceed merely raise his eyebrows in response. The iron mage let out a sigh of resignation before he shake his hand with Levy's, curiously noting the size difference when his large hand seemed to enveloped hers instead.

"Gajeel. Gajeel Redfox."

Lily joined in, having jumped of Gajeel's shoulder and landed on his arm, much to the said iron dragon slayer's dismay. He wore an uncharacteristic wide grin on his usually serious face which led to Gajeel to blink several times.

The exceed's larvender orbs are alight with happiness and nostalgia, as though he just reunited with an old friend when he placed his own paw/hand onto the handshake since both Levy and Gajeel hasn't let go of their hands yet.

"Nice to meet you, Levy Mcgarden. My name's Pantherlily. Just call me Lily."

* * *

Mirajane unconsciously rub the recently washed glass cup with a dry cloth on the bar as she delve deep into her thoughts, thinking about the recent events that had occurred the day before.

When news of the emblem of Fairy Tail blazing on the Cliffside of Hargeon and the mysterious time stop that occurred at said town reached the guildhall, rumours start to spread around that the 'Salamander', whom Mira personally knew him as Natsu Dragneel, must've been responsible for the incident or at the very least, involved in it since nobody else in Fairy Tail could generate such intense flames that could last that long.

Master Makarov flipped the lid when he heard the rumours, muttering about how the Council will give him more grief and thinking of appropriate punishments for the poor fire mage.

Granted, Natsu isn't the only fire mage in the guild as there are others like Macao Conbolt who are just as efficient in their fire magic. It just so happens that the fire dragon slayer's destruction tendencies has gotten so infamous that his reputation overshadows the other fire mages in Fairy Tail.

Mira frowned sadly for a moment, her usually bright blue eyes dimmed slightly at the thought of Macao. On the subject of the rainbow fire mage, Macao hasn't gone back from his quest for a long period of time and his son, Romeo Conbolt, has been coming to guildhall more often to beg Master for help to find his father.

As she put down the now dried glass cup on the bar table, she observed her surroundings of the guildhall. Since it is currently night time, there are not many wizards staying around as most of them has left for their homes. As matter of fact, Fairy Tail's youngest dragon slayer Wendy Marvell and her exceed companion, Charla has just said goodbyes to Mira a few minutes ago and left for their home in Fairy Hills.

However, there was one Fairy Tail wizard who hasn't left for the night yet and that one wizard just happens to be Gray Fullbuster. He is known as the guild's resident stripper and a creative ice mage specializing in maker magic.

Apparently, he is unconscious and half-naked again, sleeping with his head on the table as drool dripped from his lips. Mira giggled at the funny sight as she moved out of her bar and proceeded to wake him up. As much as she wants to let Gray have a good night sleep, he deserves much better to sleep on his bed back at his apartment then to sleep on the table in the guildhall.

The semi-retired takeover mage nudge on his head.

"Wakey, wakey, Gray. It's time to wake up!"

His response, however, is not what Mira had expected.

The first thing the ice mage did when he woke up was to jump away from whoever was poking his head and looked around in wariness, as though everything around Gray screams danger to him.

Mira froze, unsure of how to respond to Gray's unusual behaviour. The ice maker mage is usually very laidback. For him to act so cautious to his surroundings like a trapped animal means something is definitely wrong. It doesn't help that it's currently night time and the guildhall is dimly lit with so few people around, much to Gray's increasing paranoia.

"Gray…?" Mira spoke slowly and quietly, not wanting to provoke a violent reaction from her friend.

He looked at her and Mira become stunned with shock. It's not just how he watched her as though she was revived from the dead.

Instead of his onyx black eyes, ice blue orbs widen as he stared at her. The demonic black markings become visible on his right arm and Gray quickly made a beeline past her to the doors.

Mira could only watch agape as she saw her fellow guild mate exited the building and run off in the night, wondering what the heck just happened.

* * *

 ** _"Hahahahaahahaahah! Oh, that was marvellous!_** _ **You should have seen the look on her face!"**_ A youthful, male voice laughed exuberantly as he witnessed Mira's face twisted into a flabbergasted expression on the misty veil.

"That was indeed funny but we know that's not why you're here." The silhouette of the mysterious figure spoke seriously.

The other figure, who took in a form of cloaked being that is typical of most temporal spirits, sniggered.

 _ **"C'mon, lighten up for a moment. At least those time travellers got their wish, didn't they?"**_

"I'll be lying if I said I wasn't worried by the methods you chose to act upon that cause parts of History as they know it to be altered."

 _ **"Eh? I don't what you're talking about."**_

"Do not play coy with me, Aster," The figure snapped, "Don't you dare think I didn't notice you use your powers and go to past where you were responsible for bringing the sky dragon slayer to Fairy Tail instead of Cait Shelter."

 ** _"Her name's Wendy Marvell,"_** The temporal spirit, Aster retorted; his tone became serious, _**"Besides, there's no 'Mystogan' to help her in this reset ever since Earthland's connection to Edolas have been cut off in the previous timeline. What happens in Edolas now stays there."**_

"… I see your point but I don't agree with your methods. Haven't you learnt your lesson with Lissanna?"

 _ **"… I miscalculated the power of the transportation spell but at least her memory loss will protect her from Jellal."**_

"That doesn't excuse the fact that you broke one of the sacred rules of the Great Temporal Spirits. If Chronos founds out-"

 ** _"Then let him,"_** Aster fiercely interrupted, _**"Those guys from Fairy Tail... I've seen what they've been through and it's definitely a lot, especially Natsu. You know, the guy who you help travel back in time? I'm not going to just stand in the side lines doing nothing while the others are going to oppose our ragtag group of time travellers from changing the future."**_

"… Let's hope your decision to make the Rain Woman and the Iron Dragon Slayer join Fairy Tail this early in the timeline is worth it."

 _ **"Oh, don't worry. It'll be an interesting experience."**_

* * *

AN: So yeah, here's a chapter I promised for this month. Lots of angsty NaLu fluff at the top, a much better first meeting of GaLe and a… I have no idea how to describe the ending.

I feel like fainting, really because real life can be such a pain in the butt. Writing this enormous hunk of words in a month has been so stressful … but also super fun! If anything, this is more of transition chapter that takes place between episode 1 and 2 where our trio of wizards and exceed travelled to Magnolia during that time, which gives my imagination the creativity to write interesting scenes. Sorry if it disappoints some readers but this chapter serves more of an opening to an original storyline. Don't worry, the plot will start moving the next chapter.

Oh yeah, Natsu isn't the only one in his attempt to change the future. Can you guess who the others are? The hints are pretty obvious in this chapter ;)

On a completely different topic, Finding Dory got released today! The sequel to my childhood favourite film! Too bad my parents won't let me watch the movie :(. Oh well, I might try and write a one-shot about Finding Nemo soon ;) Maybe. Who knows?

 _ **Spoilers from the manga!**_

Still in denial over Gajeel. Poor Levy :(

Mest, you are a total idiot. A freaking, total idiot. Let's hope Eileen's spell wouldn't have any lasting effects, even though it's very unlikely.

So here my response to the reviews!

zzMiya-chanzz

\- Thanks for the compliment! If anything, I should applaud you for your scarily accurate idea of another person manipulating the timeline. Oh, and this story will definitely have NaLu in it. Expect an original storyline and canon divergences in this time travel adventure!

Royal Blue Pheonix

\- Thanks!

Johnny Spectre

\- Time Lord knowledge, eh? Not familiar with the Doctor Who series but I like to see you try ;)

I wouldn't try to ask for more reviews, really but please make leave some reviews on my story. My motivation really needed the charge. Criticism accepted but no flames please.

Oh and one preview.

* * *

 _"Hey, what's that you're holding?" Natsu asked, noticing the multi-coloured book that sparkled like stars that is held by Lucy._

 _"Oh, I found this book back at Hargeon!" Said blonde replied, her hazel eyes glimmered with excitement._

 _"I think this book contains some kind of content that relates to celestial magic! If I read this, maybe I can learn the secrets of being a celestial wizard!" Lucy squealed in enthusiasm._

 _Unbeknownst to the stellar mage, her pink-haired friend seemed to become unresponsive as he stared blankly at the book with a hint of recognition and distress in his emerald eyes; completely ignoring everything around him. Happy, who noticed the state his foster father is in, immediately went to his aid._

 _"Natsu, are you okay?" The blue exceed asked worriedly_

 _"Huh?" Lucy questioned, finally noticing that the dragon slayer is frozen like a statue._

 _His response is not what Lucy and Happy had expected._

 _Natsu still seem to be in a daze as a tear drop streamed down his cheek as he muttered under his breath, his tone full of regret and sadness._

 _"Lucy, I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..."_


	4. Important Announcement

**Fairy Tail: Shining Embers Of Destiny**

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. **Ever**.

* * *

 ** _Important Announcement!_**

If you readers are familiar with my updating schedule, you guys would know that I always update a chapter once a month. The fact that I haven't updated a new chapter for the past month implies that I have not been committed to my updating schedule and doing other stuff.

That is not true, at least partially. The real reason is that I have RL issues that I have to attend to and because of that, I don't have enough time to write for the next chapter. When I first started writing this fic, it was meant to be stress-relieving activity where I can let out my imagination be written into a story. Unfortunately and ironically, it has now became a major cause of stress as I have to find time to write a chapter while juggling RL priorities.

For this reason, I have to put this story on **hiatus.**

 **Do not worry.** I am not giving up on this story as I have planned so many plot points and original events to fit in with canon that it seems like a waste of a good story to not be written. In fact, the first three chapters barely scratched the surface of this story that I wanted to introduce to the fanfiction community of Fairy Tail. My passion for this magnificent anime might have dwindled a little but I still have plenty of interest in it, especially while investing said interest on this story.

Hopefully, given enough time; I predict that the **hiatus will be over in three months** or so starting from today (7th Of August, in my time zone) once I finished solving my RL problems. I know that this is might be very disappointing but I hope that you guys will understand why I am facing such issues right now. All of you wonderful readers have been giving my story positive reviews so far and I am so grateful for that. To make up for the impending hiatus, I will treat you guys a special preview of a chapter that takes place around 30-40 chapters deep in the story. It may not make sense but it's a glimpse of what is to become.

Without further ado, let's dive in!

* * *

"You'll pay for this!" Lucy gritted through her teeth as her captors tied her up on top the sparkling altar of gold and light.

The leader of the terrorist group, a woman with platinum hair and cold grey eyes dressed in what seems to be a yellow and white garb fit for a priestess, laughed harshly at the celestial mage as she wrote down runes with a chalk on the glittering, stone wall of the altar.

"Pay?" Lucy glared in response as the leader cackled mockingly, "Can't you see my dear? The reason why we're doing this?"

The woman waved her arms around, emphasising the fact that they were in some sacred temple that held reverence for the stars above.

"This world has too much demons! Too much suffering! Too much villains with evil deep in their hearts! Their only goal in life is to achieve their selfish desires no matter what happens to others!" The leader ranted and spat, her eyes alight with madness as her followers nodded fervently in agreement.

Lucy felt a shudder through her spine as she stared at raving woman in disbelief and disgust. Not only did the poor blonde get kidnapped by a group of terrorists that burn down towns and killed innocents with their magic for no reason other than to 'cleanse the evil within those corrupted' but she has to listen to their leader/priestess, who is a psychotic hypocrite plus absolutely insane witch who also possessed the magic power of the Earth. Not quite the same level of Jura but she's very efficient at utilising Earth magic.

"Then what do you want to achieve then, huh?!" Lucy shouted back.

The woman smirked back.

"To summon the angel who can free us all." She replied with passion.

 **"LUCCCCCYYYYYYY!"**

An explosion of fire erupted throughout the temple room, smoke enveloping the current occupants. Lucy could then feel the wind shifting, clearing the smoke as it did so. Lucy could sense Wendy's magic in said wind and immediately knew that her beloved guild mates are rescuing her.

As soon as the smoke cleared, the scene reveals 6 of Lucy's closest friends of Fairy Tail.

Gray Fullbuster, her cold but well-meaning older brother figure who often strips unconsciously and a Ice-Make mage.

Erza Scarlet, her scary yet good-hearted older sister figure who loves eating strawberry-cheese cake and a Requip mage.

Wendy Marvell, her kind plus brave younger sister figure with the ability to heal others and a Sky Dragon Slayer.

Happy and Charla, the two exceed companions of the dragon slayers and possibly the most colourful bunch in Lucy's life.

Last but not least, Natsu Dragneel; her pink-haired best friend of a fire dragon slayer who always sticks to her side no matter how annoying he is.

Most of them held a stern expression on their faces but none of them has anger comparable to that of Natsu's as his onyx eyes smouldered in rage and relief at the sight of his best friend's state.

Before anyone could react however, the leader instantly jumped up on the top altar and landed next to Lucy. She then conjured an Earth Wall surrounding the altar, isolating the two women from the outside as muffled sounds of the leader's followers clash with the Fairy Tail mages are heard.

Lucy could almost hear Natsu screaming her name, though his voice was muffled behind the earth the wall and the blonde wanted nothing more than to punch the crazy bitch in front of her. The burning desire intensified when Lucy saw her holding her celestial spirit keys, dangling them in front of her face as if to mock the stellar mage before setting them down before her.

The gold keys started to emit a bright, luminous light as though they could sense their master/best friend in trouble.

Lucy glared hatefully at the priestess who was assembling her ten gold keys along with the extra two keys of Pisces and Libra in a strange pattern. Lucy was certain that it was the terrorist group that ambushed Yukino and stole her keys. Members of Sabertooth have been in quite a pissy mood since that happened, especially Sting.

"What are you trying to do?" Lucy asked, her brows furrowed. Since she was kidnapped with no context of why other than the fact that the priestess and her terrorist group targeted her specifically for being a celestial mage, she might as well demand for an answer.

The important question being, why didn't they capture Yukino? Not that Lucy wanted anything bad happen to her friend/fellow celestial mage but why her?

The leader frowned briefly, contemplating her decisions before smirking that horrid smile on her face, "Our goal is to summon the Stellar Seraph, the Angel of the Stars."

Lucy's eyes widened in shock. Is the 'Stellar Seraph' some sort of celestial spirit that she never heard before? From what the leader was implying, this 'Angel' as she called him/her could be some kind of powerful entity that might be on par of the Celestial Spirit King. But Lucy has never heard of a summoning key that relates to said 'angel'.

Then again, the Spirit King didn't have his own key. In order to summon him, a sacrificial ritual must be made and her own spirits were extreme on discouraging her from even attempting the ritual unless absolutely necessary.

Wait a minute…

"Are you going to sacrifice me!?" Lucy squeaked in horror, her mind turning to worst case scenarios.

"No, you silly girl. The Angel wouldn't accept sacrifices. All she needs is the blood of a Heartfillia…" The priestess smiled sadistically as she raised her a knife threateningly while ominously chanting a foreign language.

Lucy screamed.

* * *

A golden light burst out of the altar.

The Earth walls created by the mad priestess disintegrated on their own and so does Lucy's bonds, leaving her to push the psycho lady out of way who happens to be in awe of the sight while Lucy clutched her slashed arm.

"Guys!" She cried out to her best friends.

"Lucy!" Natsu managed to reply back to her.

The blonde crashed headlong into the pinkette, wincing as she did so as pain from her blood-soaked arm flared up. She really needs medical attention from Wendy.

"Lucy, are you oka-"He stopped talking suddenly and Lucy realised that his onyx eyes was staring at something behind her in awe. The celestial summoner looked back and froze, finally understanding why the fire dragon slayer was gawking in wonder.

There she was, an indescribable beauty floating in the air; bathing in golden light as wings of sparkling stardust stretched on her back.

It's her, **_the Stellar Seraph_**.

The entire temple was brought to a silence but Lucy paid no attention to that. She was flabbergasted, yes but it's not because she standing in front of a literal angel that she, against her own will, summon with her own blood and the celestial magic of all 12 of the Zodiac Keys.

No, that's not why she was shocked. She have seen much weirder paranormal creatures that she encountered with her friends during their quests.

It's the Angel's appearance that baffles her.

The Stellar Seraph has hair of sunshine, beautiful auburn orbs and an unmistakable mark of Fairy Tail on the top of her right hand.

In fact, she bears a striking resemblance to…

 _"Lucy!?" Natsu exclaimed incredulously._

* * *

Confusing, yes? I can only say this…

Which Lucy is from canon while the other is my version of the story?

Well, here's my treat for you guys. I am sincerely sorry that this has to be on hiatus but I hope you guys would understand why. May we see other again when the story hiatus has finished.

See yah!


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